The Sound and The Furyan
by Madame Hardy
Summary: It’s four years after Riddick left Jack with Imam,and he returns to fulfill a promise.Will he be too late?Rated for language,sexual content & violence good old snappy comments. COMPLETE JackRID
1. New Mecca

To all the COR and PB fans, I appreciate your reviews, no flames.

Four years after T2, Riddick fulfills his promise, almost too late.

Rated for language, sex and violence. All those who know Riddick, know that already.

To Silver eyes, bubbletoes and diesel babe. you guys are an imsipration.

evanessence owns their stuff so does every other song used. Thanks, don't own any of it, if I did Jack would have lived at the end of COR

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Imam looked at Jack with the same fondness that he gave his boys before they died on the planet. Both he and Riddick had made a silent pact that she would be theirs to care for and that nothing would prevent her from growing into a woman who could be something.

"Jack?" he asked looking at his charge with a fatherly affection. He had watched her blossom into a ravishing beauty and when Riddick had contacted him, he was loathe to admit that his savior from T2 would find that so as well.

But Imam was worried that Riddick would be too late. He was alarmed that the day was coming when he could no longer keep her safe and wished for her protector's return.

Life on Hellion Prime was not what he had expected when he, Jack and Riddick arrived in New Mecca. Many things had changed and the amber sunshine that bathed the world in warmth hid many things within the shadows.

Jack, known as Jacqueline Richards, had grown from the bald, scared child that idolized Riddick, into a woman that had passion, a mind of her own, and a temper to rival the man with the silvery eyes.

"Jack," Imam told her as she accompanied him from services, "you must be careful, and think about your future." She stood next to him completely veiled, tall and proud, her eyes holding a deep seated irritation at the pretense of her _acting_ as a pilgrim.

Not only did she feel stupid, look stupid was told by the women of Imam's parish that she was stupid, but she couldn't leave no matter what the pretense. She was a prisoner on a world of amber light.

"I have Imam. Trust me. I have. I have studied hard, I have kept my mouth shut and tried _not_ to offend you or your friends. But I'm not even going to consider it. You've got to be joking." She told him her hazel eyes on fire.

But Imam's face showed nothing remotely resembling levity.

"Jack. You will be a 'legal' adult within the week and I cannot protect you then. You will be subject to the laws of this land and that is something I would not wish for you."

She shifted in her pilgrim's uniform. It was a long black skirt, deep blue shirt covering every inch of her skin and flowed down to hide the body she had developed since her rescue, and a deep black head scarf covering everything but her eyes.

"No. I will not submit. I won't let them sell me into marriage. I'll run first." She demanded raising her voice enough to cause some of the women who had begun to walk near them to whisper.

She cringed and lowered her voice, sighing. The law in place was only to keep the men in positions of power. She was disgusted enough by the slavery they represented. But she was more disgusted by their abject lust after young girls.

"Jack, you must consider that Mr. Riddick may not be able to return." He told her looking at her.

She was livid that he even could suggest it, out loud to her. She wanted to rip the head scarf from her face and tell them all where to go. But she wore it to respect him and only when she was out in public or when she could possibly be seen. New and even more restrictive laws had begun to take effect and she had to be careful, very careful. She had learned much of the ways of Allah and knew that she was observed whenever she was with him. She was calm, quiet and reserved in public, an elaborate façade whereas underneath she was all Jack, rage, willfulness and passion all locked up.

"I have and I still _will not_ bow." She told him standing firm. He put his hand out and sighed. She took after the man who had saved them more than he wanted to admit. In the three and a half years since their arrival, she had been taught the ways of the pilgrims, forced to submit as a means of survival. She was itching to be sarcastic, like she used to be when she was younger. But she tempered herself out of necessity and respect. She bit her tongue, dying to give him what for. He needed her to understand what she was going to be forced to do, even though it killed him to say it. It was wrong, so very, very wrong.

"You and Riddick should have thought of this when we got to this place Imam, and now that I am registered here I'll have no choice. I can't even leave the planet without a male escort, a spouse or brother. Couldn't we have gone somewhere else?" she asked walking passed the market where some of the men who had come to socialize after the services openly stared…_at her._

"How can you be so sure he will come for you?" _He promised me. _

"Faith and the fact that he said he would. I believe him, I trust him. I…" _love him_… she almost said ripping the head scarf off and storming up the stairs to the women's quarters. She looked back down the steps of their villa and glared at him, "He's never lied to me and you know it." _He'd better come back._

He did know it. In the times he had contact with him, which over the last three and half years had been sporadic, he told the truth. He had a feeling about Richard B. Riddick, that his word was something not to be questioned.

_When he had arrived from T2 with the two of them, Riddick stood at the helipad and spoke low and purposefully._

"_Gotta go kid, look I got mercs on my neck. Until I get this payday off my head, I've got to be scarce. Listen to the holy man and wait, I will come for you."_

Imam remembered his face, how he removed his goggles and looked directly into her eyes, so wide with fear.

"_Stay please." She pleaded with him, hugging his waist as if the reason for living was being ripped from her._

_He knelt down, and looked at her, then at Imam who stood stoic a few feet away. "Remember one thing Jack. I will come for you. I'm not going to leave you. I know that this is a pretty shitty deal but be tough kid. Running is no place for you, not now." He growled into her ear. _

_The tears were streaming down her face even though she tried to be brave._

Imam's heart began to ache at the memory and unconsciously fisted his hands at his side.

"_But you can't leave me here." She cried, trying to shake off his strong hands._

_From his vantage point, Imam watched the large man sigh. It was a heartbreaking one, and he tried to hide it but he could not. "Listen," he said looking at her and taking something out of his pocket. "I need you to do something for me."_

_She sniffed and stood straighter, and Imam felt his heart feel incredibly full. Many had seen the murderous side of this man, but in the loudness and starkness of the spaceport, he saw a tender, human side of him that would always shape his regard for Riddick. _

"_Hang on to this." He told her putting a small disc into her palm and closing his large rough hand around it. _

_It had a strange design on it and was light to the touch and warm, as if he kept it close to him at all times. It was a medallion on a strong titanium chain and felt light but strong in her hand. "It was the only thing I have of my mother, whoever the fuck she was. I'll be wanting that back. It was the only thing that they never got around to taking away from me."_

_For a convicted killer, Riddick displayed a fiercely protective side when it came to Jack. Maybe it was the fact that he had saved her on T2, or maybe he found something within her that, unknown to either, would satisfy the loneliness in his soul._

Imam remembered his icy stare, penetrating him. _"Protect her while I'm gone holy man." He told him. It was not a request. "I will come back. Remind her, often."_

_And then he was gone without a backwards glance._

At first, Jack was quiet and withdrawn. Her shock, her timidity he attributed to the alien surroundings, the culture shock of his people and their reticence to accept strangers into their midst.

As a man of faith, Imam was immediately accepted and revered as their new religious leader. Imam had begun to worry that she could never accept the fact that she was becoming a woman, but slowly she acclimated herself to the idea. He watched her study hard, fight vigorously against his wishes defying him at every turn, and blossom into a very beautiful, headstrong, free thinking woman.

Coming into her own seemed to ease her worries. Once her hair had grown out, she felt less awkward, and in the first year, she had grown another three inches and begun to fill out, becoming more womanly, rather than tom-boyish. This development, although expected, did not give him comfort knowing the way that she would be received, both in New Mecca, and once someone in their past returned to claim her.

A smile curved on his lips as he remember the day she came back from school and ran to her rooms. She stood in front of her mirror, deep brown skirt flowing to her calves, a deep white shirt covering her arms and torso, and brown head scarf covering her hair. "What is it my child?"

"They keep staring at me." She said afraid.

"I suspect they do." He told her looking at her with an encouraging smile, "you have becoming a beautiful woman."

"No. I'm not." She affirmed removing the head scarf to show a brilliant mass of burnished waves.

"As much as you may deny it Jack, you are." He told her always having been as honest as Riddick had been. It was the least he could do for her.

"I don't want to be beautiful." She said in a small voice. "It'll get me hurt."

He had to admit to himself that this revelation was true enough. Beauty in the hard cold universe had no place. It served only as a distraction that could be deadly.

In the weeks that followed, he noticed that some of the men in his acquaintance were paying more attention to the thin girl in the dark veil, the one who rarely spoke in public, the one that never seemed to attract attention to herself but sat politely, demurely at the Imam's side.

Her behavior, pleasing to Imam because he realized how much she wanted to please him had gained the notice of prominent people in his parish. Many had noticed qualities in her that were desirable, and with her coming of age in the coming months, they knew of her fate. Some of those men, who were powerful and sometimes dangerous men of Imam's sect had sought to speak with her, and approached him with a desire to come to know her. She refused, and Imam respected her wishes.

Soon, Imam would have no choice but to relinquish what tenuous control he had over her. Since he was not legally her guardian, the moment she became of age, the council of elders would take whatever freedom she had.

In his heart, he knew she'd die before she would allow that.

His followers, many not sympathetic to the new ways, helped him train her in ways that normal female pilgrims would never undergo. They instructed her on advanced computers, languages, defense and combat, all the things she would need in order to escape, if she was given no choice.

The sun had set, and he noticed that he had been standing in the darkness for some time. He realized with a chuckle, that Jack was much like Riddick. She would not submit no matter what the cost. Inwardly, with a wry smile, he couldn't have been more proud.

He sighed as he looked at the night sky. He remember a conversation they had earlier that week, _"He won't allow them to take me and use me to breed other slaves for your god. I will not bow."_ She said through her teeth. _"I won't submit. I'll kill them first, before I let them put their hands on me."_

Defiant, she stormed out to the darkness avoiding him for almost two days. He could not look at her because his response told her that he did not share the same faith in Riddick's return as she did, and it tore her to pieces.

In his private courtyard, Salim was putting her through the physical training she had started just after arriving in New Mecca. Three hours each day, he showed her ways to kill, ways to avoid, ways to escape so she could live. Contrary to beliefs, Imam knew that this part of her education was just as important as what they taught in the girls school he made her attend.

"Jack." Imam said to her as she walked passed and bowed. Since she arrived with him, her respect for him was unquestioned. He was everything that was stable and calm, but not what she needed and he knew it.

He never asked her to do something that she would consider an insult, even when she was subjected to the instruction given by his sect's women elders. Soon, he would have no choice but to force her to bend, unless she could escape.

In the last few months, she had internalized things. She was changing and he saw it, subtle but there right underneath the surface. She was a good child, one he could not have been more proud of. He knew her to be a passionate woman, one to see the necessity of temperance, but understanding how she hated it.

He appreciated her when she would smile, and remain calm, even sometimes it made his nerves fray. She could appear so passive and docile, when truth he knew she was a raging torrent ready to erupt. She was so good at this façade that even he forgot on occasion it was all an act.

She finished her kata with Salim, respectfully bowed and grabbed a towel. "Yes Baba?" (_father) _she said wiping her face and running her fingers through her hair. It flowed to her shoulder blades in a braid of fiery silk.

He paused. She had called him that very seldom. His heart was so full of love for her. To him she was so beautiful, more beautiful than he thought he should be permitted to see. "Baba. Forgive me. I was harsh before and you're only looking out for me. I'm sorry."

"You only say that my child because you feel guilty for hurting my feelings. I know that you are not sorry for what you said. You still believe it."

"Yes. Busted again." She smirked. _You can see through my bullshit in two seconds, who was I fooling?_

"Soon you must flee this place." He told her. "I will not allow them to take you and break your spirit, even though you have been so kind as to keep it restrained for so long. This I appreciate."

"No problem. I owe you." She said matter of factly.

"Many would have me punish you for some of the things you do that I choose to ignore. Your discretion has been a blessing."

"I know. Sorry to be such a pain in the ass. Sorry, I mean butt. You're the closest thing I've had to a father and I hope I wasn't too difficult. I know how hard it is for you with the magnificent seven…"

The magnificent seven were the seven families that seemed to control New Mecca. The men of these families were harsh, manipulative men that were instrumental in changing the laws regarding their women and females in general. They were hateful extremists that wanted nothing more than control and more power. She hated the fact that they tied Imam's hands. That he had no control whatsoever over his flock and watched him try to be diplomatic when who he dealt with were corrupt to the core.

"You need not worry. I will handle them when the time comes. But prepare child. It could be any time."

"I know. I will go when you tell me." _Then I'll find Riddick myself and kick his god damn ass._

She walked to the top of the villa, to the one place she knew Imam would never follow. Jack's rooms were spacious and well kept. She had taken pride in her surroundings, burning incense and keeping the lights low because it reminded her of Riddick. She sighed. "Lights, ten percent." She growled putting on her mini-disc. Loud rock music she down-loaded blared in her ears,

The large bedroom had a settee adjacent to the immense bed and was uniquely feminine. The terra-cotta tile floor and the ornate rugs were rich and she welcomed the scents of her sanctum more than the thoughts that plagued her mind. Her window, on the top floor overlooking the courtyard, was open letting the night air cool off her sweaty skin. She swayed her hips disappearing into the music trying to stave off the need to scream.

"Where am I gonna go?" she said to herself. "Damn it. Damn it…"

She stretched to her toes, cracked her back and neck and sat on the settee and removed her boots. She laid down the bone shiv that he had given her when she escaped the planet with him on the table. She stretched her arms above her head and sang along with the music.

She wanted the freedom sleep, and to dream, and the freedom to be her unrestrained self.

The night's workout was good, she felt nice and limber. Her body had become a hard working machine of agility and grace. Her limbs were smooth and tone, her stomach was flat and her legs strong.

He watched her strip from her black jeans, then her black shirt to reveal a voluptuous athletic body. He saw long legs, a slim waist he could put his hands around and an elegant neck. She smelled of exertion, and of need, both scents intoxicating to his heightened senses.

_Well, well, well Jack. You keep surprising me…_

The shower was hot and she looked forward to feeling her muscles tingle as the water hit them. She worked harder today because she was pissed and Salim told her so.

_It is not the fault of the Imam that you are in the situation you are. The families on the council make it so and they are to blame._

_Like hell Salim, I'm not a piece of meat. I'm not and I won't let them treat me that way._

She entered the bathroom and said, "Lights, forty percent." Riddick could see clearly the black tattoo she sported on her low back, starting dangerously close to the cleft of her backside and running its way up her back and over her hip. It was a stark contrast to her pale skin. The dragon she wore was a final defiant insult to the law against women mutilating their bodies by piercings and body art.

She wore it as a symbol, that she would not bend to their will. And every time she saw it, she smiled. _Take that you mother fuckers._

_So beautiful… _he thought as he watched her remove her panties and bra. His stare continued as she unwound her braid and shook out her long deep red tresses and continued to hum along to the music.

Stepping into the shower, she replayed the conversation she had earlier with Imam about Riddick. "Imam, I won't do it. He's coming for me. He promised damn it. He's never lied to me. _You don't know that, he might be unable to return." _She reiterated out loud as she turned towards the spray. The clear shower curtain gave him quite a view, and his inner beast growled in response to his eyes seeing her absolutely naked.

He heard her moan as the hot stream of water hit her. "Ah, that's definitely more like it." Her hands ran through her hair, and she put her hands on the wall and let the jets slam into her back muscles. "Music, Evanescence. Sound, level 5."

Hold onto me my love, You know I can't stay long.

All I wanted to say was I love you and I'm not afraid. Ohhhh

Can you hear me? Can you feel me in your arms?

Holding my last breath safe inside myself…

Are all my thoughts of you sweet raptured light it ends here tonight.

She began to hum the chorus… then she continued dancing in the shower and feeling very good as she crooned over and over. He watched as she washed the sweat and grime away struck by her, stock still and breathing hard. Her voice was so beautiful as she sang and the way her body moved made him want her so very much.

That was not supposed to happen. She was not supposed to look so incredible. He expected a tall lanky kid with her hair in a pony tail and machine boots pissing off everyone in sight. He did not expect what he stared at washing her body with a soap that made his innards twitch.

Closing you eyes to disappear. You pray your dreams will lead you here.

Still you wait and know the truth--no one's there. Safe don't be afraid.

Only because as you fade to black. Safe, holding my last breath.

Safe inside myself.

Are all my thoughts of you sweet raptured light it ends here tonight."

Suddenly the smell of sandalwood and something else drifted from her apartments towards the shower. "Music off." She said quickly. Her head, slick from the water shot up with recognition. _Him._ She growled in frustration which made him smile. _That's right kid, I'm here and you know it…_

She shook her head and washed the soap out of her hair. He liked when he could watch it slide down her smooth back between the cheeks of that perfect ass. _That's a damn fine ass Jack._ His inner beast growled.

But his rational mind was suddenly guilty for having spied on her while she was so very naked. As erotic as the show was, he still tried to think of her as a kid. But his body reacted differently. Hard and uncomfortable, he was compelled to stare at her. He was having to admit, if only to himself, that she'd grown into one hot piece of ass.

_Damn…_

Then he was snapped back into conscious thought by the sound of her voice again. This time it was agitated and insistent.

"How much longer Riddick? I need you and I'm tired of waiting. I ache and it's all your fault you bastard." She cried as her nipples erect from the water and her workout bothered her all the way down to her knees.

He watched as she leaned towards him, and smiled. "Imam, you have no idea what's really going on… I won't let those bastards take me. I'm so outa here. I'll do as I please sooner rather than later." She laughed and his breath caught in his throat.

_What the fuck?_

Then she stuck her tongue out and he stopped breathing altogether. Once she retracted the piece of her face he'd most like to see again, his eyes went to the chain around her neck. It was his medallion. He watched her play with it, sighing as the water cascaded down the valley between those beautiful, taut breasts.

He licked his lips and groaned watching her enjoy the hot steamy water. A moan of satisfaction escaped her.

_This is so wrong, _his rational mind thought. But the beast just applauded enjoying the view.

He could smell the frustration within her and cocked an eyebrow. "Riddick." She moaned as her fingers dropped to the most intimate part of her in an attempt to alleviate the ache that had become a constant reminder of her loneliness. She sighed his name again and he stared in complete disbelief.

_Well fuck me sideways._

The hot water helped as she played and teased. Already extremely aroused by her, he wanted to give in to his desire and touch her, consume her, and feel her completely surrounding him and the sounds she made gave him a guilty thrill that normally would have not phased him. But this was Jack.

_Jack_, he reminded himself. _You sick fuck._

Her voice was the same, except when in the end, she shouted his name. That surprised him.

_Poor kid, gonna have to help her with that. _

What are you saying? That's Jack!

_Yeah, that's Jack._

That was not the kid he left nearly four years ago. It sounded like her, it smelled like her, but she was all grown up. He couldn't dispute that fact, and felt conflicted as his cock twitched in response to her naked walking towards him.

_Down boy._

"Well, that was disappointing." She said to herself as she whipped her hair back and forth shaking the excess water all over the room as she exited the shower. Droplets hit him and her scent was all over him.

That didn't help matters.

Stepping into the darkness, she dried off still frustrated despite her orgasm. A nightgown of indigo silk lay on her bed and she pulled on a pair of high cut panties and slipped the gown over her head.

Silk was another rebellion against the pilgrims she indulged. It screamed FREEDOM. He smiled as she moaned when it touched her skin and he thought to himself how incredible she had become. He hadn't thought of her like that in all the time he was away. How come it never occurred to him until that moment that she would emerge a ravishing beauty?

The small straps glided over her head and down her shoulders, and she sighed as it began its descent.

Riddick's inner beast was howling. _Damn, little Jack is all grown up and filled out in all the right places. _

He tried to argue with himself. She's like your little sister…but the beast bore his teeth and growled back. _She's not like any sister you had you fucker._

It was right. She had changed and he wasn't sure he could be a gentleman like he promised himself he would. She was too tempting and he had an itch she definitely could scratch.

He shifted uncomfortably as her breasts responded to the torment of the silk. She sighed again as it descended to her waist and down her legs, like a caress.

Man, like I said beautiful… _Pounce her, she's hot for you… Do it… Do it… Make her scream your name dickey boy._

He closed his eyes and smelled vanilla. It assailed his senses like a drug and his body reacted like he was drunk. He opened them slowly just in time to see the criss cross design hit her waist holding in the beast on her lower back and growled in anticipation of tasting her tender flesh. She leaned down towards the bed and smoothed the pillows.

"Feel better Jack?"

She spun around a shiv in her hands and surprised him. "I'm not gonna hurt you Jack." He said in low soft purr.

At the sound of his voice he saw her eyes close and she groaned out loud. "I'm losing my mind."

His eyebrow raised at its sound. Over the years, her mind had played many cruel tricks on her and she cursed herself for allowing it.

"I'm not gonna think about you again Riddick. I have to be stronger than that. You might torment my mind and body when I'm tired but I won't allow you from keeping me strong, damn it. You left me here, and didn't come back and now I have a payday of my own on my head to deal with. No matter how much I miss you, you can't matter. Leave me alone." She said to the darkness as she put the knife back underneath her pillow.

It was the shiv he gave her from T2, sharp and deadly.

He felt how angry she still was. And he couldn't blame her and that amused him, he was expecting something else. What? He didn't know, but it definitely wasn't that. _She thinks I'm a ghost. How interesting. _"How much of a payday Jack?" he crooned in his raspy growl.

She moaned against the sound of his voice and his muscles twitched in anticipation. _Nice,_ he thought,_ I like that_.

"Virgins go for 25000 credits but the rumor is I'm a bigger payday." She scoffed. "My birthday is in a week and after that I'm no longer jail bait, you jerk."

"Why is that Jack, what makes _you_ so special?" he wondered as she slipped into bed.

"I was a bad girl Riddick, a very bad girl." She answered closing her eyes and smiling. The knife was in her hands again and she twirled it deftly surprising him again. "They want breeders Riddick, for the faithful. They will try to make me submit. I will not. I'll slice them all first."

_Aw, she sounds like me. Ain't that cute. _"Jack, I didn't abandon you."

"Yes you did. I _believed_ you'd come back for me. I dreamed of you every night, that you would rescue me from this hell, but you didn't. And now I'm alone talking to myself. I hate you."

She sighed against the sheets as she felt the silk against her skin. "You don't really hate me do you Jack?" he purred coming closer.

"No, not really. It just hurts. You know what they'll do." She sighed as his voice became a caress against her skin. She arched her back and sighed again in the darkness.

_Damn Jack, you're making it hard to concentrate. _"What are they gonna do Jack?"

She rolled onto her stomach and put her tear stained face on the pillow. "Three days from now, I'll be forced to be presented to the council, then unveiled so they can start the bidding. It's a cattle auction. Not that I haven't been through worse. " she slipped her leg up baring the thigh he'd glimpsed in the bathroom.

His hand itched to touch her but inside he was conflicted. She was arousing him and he couldn't stop it. "I will come for you." he said in an almost whisper.

She smiled wickedly. That got him to cock his head in surprise, _again_.

"Sure, promises, promises. At least I can dream you'll _come _for me. Mmm." Then she laughed and turned her face away from him.

"I said I'd come back Jack, why don't you believe me?" he asked sitting on the balls of his feet, just a bare three feet from her.

"It's hard to believe a ghost Riddick. Save me from them, I can't do it alone." She sighed sleep pulling at her.


	2. Riddick's Dilemma

Damn Fry. How like a woman to fuck up a perfectly good plan. And what's worse is that she died for it. That was my second mistake. Yeah, I know, what was my first? The kid, she got to me. She calmed the beast inside me, even when I argued with it.

_Ghost em all, _it said. But those eyes, they fucked me up good. Then, she spoke to me. Treated me like I was human. She even shaved her head, wore goggles like me and didn't care that I had killed people. I got to give her that, she's got good taste. She made me believe I could be more than just a convict.

We made it to New Mecca, Imam, Jack and I. She was a good girl and deserved a life. Those eyes, man they bored into my soul, black as it was. Part of me, no matter how many times I tried to shake it, recognized something in her that was oddly familiar, a bit of the beast that I had come to know so well. That came as a surprise to me, and to this day, I can't explain it.

"_Gotta go kid." _I told her. She stood there so pissed at me that she could have ripped my balls off. I couldn't blame her. I couldn't stay; I didn't have a choice.

"_Stay, please don't leave."_ Man, she was making it hard. Those eyes were killing me. I knew I was ripping her heart out and I couldn't do a damn thing about it.

So I made a deal with her. _"Holy man's gonna take care of you. I'll come back when it's safe."_ I didn't lie, not really. It would never be safe. I was a good payday. But ever since Johns asked me to ghost her cause the son of a bitch couldn't, I was lost. She was special.

Damn I'm such a pussy.

Hell if I didn't want to tear that nightgown off her and rip her apart. The beast bore it's teeth and demanded satisfaction.

_She called your name you fuck. Take her, devour her, she's all yours. _It said to me.

That's Jack, shut the fuck up. She's just a kid. DOWN BOY.

_Not anymore dickey boy._

I like to watch her, I remember back on the skiff, waiting for someone to pick us up. She slept like an angel. She stirs in the darkness and I smile. _That's it Jack, remember what I taught you. Feel me near you. I know you can._

I remembered seeing Imam earlier that evening and his words seemed to haunt me as I watch the even rise and fall of her chest.

"_She has changed much since you last saw her, my friend." _The holy man said to me._ "It is good to see you once again."_

Yeah I bet. Little Jack all grown up. I inhaled her scent and wondered if she was as beautiful as she smelled that I was gonna be in big trouble…

"_She has suffered little while you've been away." _Good at least I knew that she'd been well cared for. Not that she was mine in the first place, and not that I didn't think about _that. _When I left she was a kid with a shaved head and no family.

"_She still has troubling dreams Mr. Riddick. Memories fade but are not forgotten." _Yeah tell me about it. Those eyes have been looking into my soul for the last four fucken years, haunting me, calling to me...

"_You are welcome in my home, Mr. Riddick, as always."_ He tells me and I'm grateful. But then his face gets real serious, and I was suddenly mad as hell cause I can tell something's wrong. _"I must warn you, she is distrustful of men. Be careful, she has had it very difficult since she reached maturity. I have done my best to protect her."_

And at that point I got the feeling that holy man was holding out on me and I'm fucken pissed. _"Thanks holy man." _I told him trying to figure out what piece of shit made her that way.

Because whoever did, he's one dead mother fucker. _No one touches what is mine…_

He stared at her in the darkness, wishing that he could have been there, keeping an eye on her himself. It took him a long time to throw off the mercs that were still after his head and only now did he feel safe enough to return. He felt relief that she was okay, but also guilt…guilt for watching her naked and guilt for leaving her in the first place.

He like observing her in her own element; he liked how she looked when she slept. He remembered when she was still clinging to him after T2 and how her eyes were so trusting. How could he make it up to her?

His senses, always acute sensed her stirring and with deadly stealth he moved to outside on the balcony. She rose, obviously uncomfortable, and ran her fingers through her hair. He watched her from the shadows rise and put on her abaya, and then her veil, and walk down the stairs.

Jack hated when she couldn't sleep. And lately more often than the mind numbing screaming dreams she had, she was dreaming of a different kind of scream. She dreamed of Riddick, the man with the silvery eyes and the gruff voice that haunted her. She wanted to hate him and thought by hating him, he would fade from her memory. But she couldn't and it gnawed at her. Sometime later, she returned to the safety of her room and took a long drink throwing her hair back once the veil had been tossed aside. The abaya was next and she slammed and locked the door more frustrated than when she left.

"Damn you Riddick." She said out loud as she lifted one leg and rested it against the door. "Why can't I hate you? It would make being lonely so much easier." She slammed the glass down on her bed table sighed. She ran her hands down her torso, lightly grazing her hardened nipples. She took a ragged breath cursing herself for thinking of him again. "But I can't damn it."

She'd been dreaming of him. She always did when she was tired. One hand continued slowly until it reached her pelvis, where, still damp from her dream, she rubbed herself trying to quell the ache she felt at the thoughts of his hands against her, and she cursed herself because of it. She moaned seductively as he watched her in the darkness.

_Well, well, well… _His eyes surveyed her ministrations and his inner beast growled in expectation of a good pouncing. _Down boy._

_Beautiful.. _he thought and his beast agreed.

She turned towards the bed and said, "Lights, twenty percent."


	3. Hello Jack

"Hello Jack." I say completely enjoying myself. _At least I know she hasn't forgotten about me._

"Riddick!" she gasps, standing still as I walk calmly over, confirming her aroused state and smile. I know she's feeling conflicted and partly that's my fault.

Part of me isn't the least bit sorry about _that._

"Is it really you? Or am I hallucinating again?" she says in a voice that causes me to twitch. It's a whisper and a purr all at the same time, and I love it.

"How ya doin kid?" I ask walking behind her. _I want to touch her so bad, but once I start, I won't stop. Could you? Look at her!_

"I'm not a kid any longer Riddick." She tells me. _Yeah, I noticed that too, nipples hard, perfect ass, sweet smell of want. Oh yeah, I noticed._

"Yeah, wouldn't you know? Little Jack's all grown up." And I'm growling that. The beast is making himself know and she doesn't flinch. _That's my girl._

"You left me." she tells me, hurt. _I know baby. I had to._

"I came back." I say watching her go and get some more water. _That's a fine ass Jack, what else you got underneath that? _

_Stop thinking about her ass Riddick, she's like your little sister. _

_Like hell. _"Did you miss me?" _I had to ask, but I already know the answer._

"Wipe that smirk off your face Riddick." She snaps at me. _Yeah you missed me._

"Aw come on princess…You can tell me." I just couldn't help myself.

"Maybe, big monkey stud like you?" she says sarcastically. "Depends on your definition of 'miss'. Did I wonder if you were dead? Yeah. Did I worry you were in the slam again? Yeah. Did I cream my pants waiting for you to rescue me from this hell hole? NEVER." _Liar. You gotta be kidding Jack, after that lap dance against the wall, come on._

Then I really piss her off by laughing. That laughter dies in my mouth when she asks me the same question. "Did you miss _me?"_

She could have slapped me and I'd of felt better. _Yeah kid, those, eyes, that voice, you had my soul. I missed you like hell. _"Did you bother?" she snaps moving around me like a predator.

"What's so funny Riddick?" she says really pissed. God I'm lovin this. Come Jack, show me what you got. "I spent the last four years in the dark waiting for you—"

"And here I am." I tell her moving closer. Her breath quickens and my beast is calling…

Down boy.

_Fuck you dickey._

"And here you are. Gonna leave again? Should I be grateful? Should I melt against those big…hard… tight… muscles and let you do what you know you want? Should I cry?" she says mad as hell. Imam was definitely right. She's all grown up and I need to watch my ass. But the fun is gonna be trying…

She pissed all right and turned on. I can smell it, and she knows it, and that makes her even more pissed. _Sorry kid, that's the law of the jungle._

_I'm gonna have fun with you Jackie…_

"Sure, grateful is good. Boring but good. Melt against me? Aw Jack, you've always known I'm all yours." I say smiling inches from that perfect ass.

I just love fucking with her.

"Bastard. You took long enough." She says glaring. Keep this up princess and we just might get somewhere. "I thought you'd cut your losses and ran."

That hit below the belt. I don't run, not from those I care about. I had to keep the mercs away from her.

"I see you're still hanging on to this." I remind her as my fingers run along her collarbone to the necklace and the medallion, the only remnant of my life the slam never took away. Her skin and parts of me are standing at attention.

"See anything you like?" she asks. _Do I? Jack, you fucking kidding?_

"Maybe." I purr, just for the hell of it.

"Take a picture then. It'll last longer." She says turning on me. Her face is inches from mine and I'll never forget what she feels like so close. She was all animal.

Needless to say, I am one turned on mother fucker.

"Jack?" I say and at this point I could pounce so easily. "What are you doing?"

"Seeing if you're real or not." Then she inhales right by my throat. "Yep. You smell real. But I'm not really convinced." Then she's smiling, a wicked little smile that is so like me I'm glad it was dark.

Jack is all grown up, there I've thought it and saw it and felt it. DAMN, controlling myself just got harder. Literally.

She turns on me and walks to the dresser and grabs a bone clip, one from the planet that she's fashioned to hold up her hair and sweeps it up. "I thought you wanted it back. Here, undo it and get out."

"Jack." I say. This is going south fast. I didn't realize she'd be so pissed at me.

She turns her back and I notice in the dim light another tattoo, it's my medallion on the back of her neck, just below her brain stem. "I don't need it anymore." And she's smiling now. Fuck!

I want to touch it. Damn, I want to touch her. "Keep it. It looks better around your neck. Couldn't sleep princess?"

I have to turn this shit around. "I am not _your_ princess. How long have you been standing there?" _Long enough to get my dick in a twist kid. Long enough._

"Not long." I lie standing right behind her whispering it in her ear. And she realizes that I might have witnessed a few things. That's better. I like having control of situations like this. I'm the one that fucks with things, not her.

"Damn it!" she says even more frustrated. "Pervert. Don't you pay for shows like that?"

"Aw Jack. That hurts. I travel halfway across the galaxy and this is the reception I get? Ouch." I'm loving this. Horny Jack, could it get any better?

She growls at me. I love it when I get her that way. "I was dreaming, you perv, and NOT of you. Don't get your head all big now." then she looks right at my dick.

_You wish princess._

"Okay, asshole. I was dreaming. Get over it. Who's to say you aren't a dream now."

"Can dreams speak?" I say and walk to face her. I love her scent. She's mine, and I'm warming up to the idea that I should tell her some time…soon. "Close your eyes and remember what I taught you."

Despite how mad she is at me, She trusts me so completely that she doesn't hesitate to obey. And I am pleased as hell that hasn't changed. Standing close to her I can feel her, smell her. Now, this I can't get enough of.

Essence de Jack. Mmm.

I watch her close her eyes slowly and her face relax. Next to her ear I lean in and ask, softly, tenderly, "What do you hear?"

"Heart beats, strong and steady, breathing. The low growl of an animal." She says smirking. _Smart ass, but it's nice to be remembered._

"What do you smell?" I ask standing too close but I could really give a shit about that right now.

"Mmm. Sandalwood, spice, vanilla. Sweat and—" she answers. _Good girl now listen to your body, what else? _She's smiling_, that's right kiddo. _"Desire."

She smiles. Yeah Jack, that's right.

She's remembered and been a good student. That's good. "Now," I say moving just a few inches back. "What do you see?"

She slowly opens her eyes and starts, "Silver, a man who could have sent word to me he wasn't dead. Four years Riddick! It took you long enough. You could have sent word or something. I didn't know if you were dead or _worse_. Or, " she asks licking her lips.

Jack don't do that.

She continues despite my unspoken request. "Were you waiting around for me to grow up?"

Then she smacks me hard against the chest. What surprised me is that it really hurt.

She had me there. _Let it out princess, I deserved that._

"Could be." I say fucking with her again. Now, she's not mad, she's furious. Damn, I hit a nerve. I can't blame her. I left her and the holy man and went on my way. ""What else do you see?"

"Flesh," she growls slowly at me, letting it descend into a purr while she's staring me down. And I mean **staring**"and blood." God she's killing me. Does she even realize it?

There is no fear in her eyes, nothing except the animal I saw on T2. Granted, it was a cub but there lurking dormant all the same. I look at her and smile.

Damn if I'm not pleased as hell.

"It's about time you noticed. I mean, I'm standing right here Jack." I say looking very pleased with myself. She knows it and smirks. "I've been watching you all night."

"Did you enjoy the show?" she asks me. _Oh yeah princess._

"You're pretty fast with a shiv. Did the skinny man outside teach you that?" I ask her referring to Salim. Imam told me about him when I arrived and I have to say, I was pretty impressed. He's a strong man, and quick. "Took a beating and gave one. Never knew you had it in you. Taking after me I guess."

I am smug, I know it, fucken sue me.

"Thank you. I do try to be the best at whatever I get-my-hands-on." She says staring me down like a side of meat.

"Really?" I ask looking at her with my head cocked slightly to the side. "You wanna play with the big boys now? You think you got the juice for that princess?"

"You think you can handle a little girl? Here's the skinny Riddick. I grew up. I'm not this teary eyed little frightened thing anymore. What did you expect me to do, think that my prince charming was gonna come back and rescue me? Fat chance. My days of crying for freedom are long gone. I'm all grown up now."

_You're telling me. I got eyes Jack._

"Timid little Jack, all grown up." I say chuckling cause this tough girl act is funny.

Then she looks at me. And her face changes to tenderness. Damn, how like a woman to do that right when I was really enjoying myself.

"Glad you noticed." She says sighing as she takes the hair clip out. Your eyes bore into my soul when you look at me like that. And now that body makes me want to touch and feel and devour that skin… "When did you get in? Are you hungry?"

"Now that's a loaded question Jack. Come on. You're standing there, looking like that and you ask me that question. Be reasonable. I'm only human, you can see that, can't you?" I say smiling. Good it's back to fucking with her.

She takes a good look at me staring at her and smiles. That's a girl, get used to that.

"Nice place you got. Imam was very generous." I say, trying to change the subject so I can get some time to calm my ass down.

"He's hoping I will pick a husband soon and bless him with grandchildren." She tells me. Grandpa Imam, yeah right.

"What did you tell him?" I ask. I gotta know what she said; bet it was hysterical.

She moves over to the settee and sits down, leaning against the back. Damn if you couldn't get laid like a mother fucker on this. She pats for me to join her. Now, this could get _very _interesting…

"Let's just say this." She says leaning in. "when I go to services with him, veiled as he requests, I don't appear to be very convincing acting as docile as he wishes. The men are frightened of me. And I seem to have a problem with rules, although I am very discrete when I decide to do what I want."

"You're kidding." I say in mock alarm. I can imagine her walking into a mosque and seeing them shaking in their sandals. Her eyes alone could do that.

Hell, I'd pay money to see that.

"My idea," she continues coming very close to my ear lobe. "of a husband is _nothing_ like Imam's idea of a husband. I personally prefer something more exotic."

She just stared at my throat and licked her lips again.

_Down boy._

"Really?" I ask her watching her rise and move back to get another drink of water. That ass alone is tempting the shit out of me. _Bad girl Jack, it's not nice to tease._

She sits back down and looks tired. It's late and all this fucking around however fun is tiring. I need a cold shower and she needs a good…that's enough. I need to stop thinking like that. This is Jack…

"I missed you Jack." I say very serious cause I am. I've thought about her everyday. I didn't mean it to come out, but since it did, I'm not taking it back.

She kills me, by leaning against my arm and placing her soft palm on my cheek.

Damn I'm such a pussy.

She laughs again and makes me feel stupid all of a sudden. "Hey, you're killing me with all this sentiment."

That's it little lady, you're in for it now. The beast senses a challenge and so do I.

We both stand. And I'm growling. But I gotta hand it to her she's not backing down. "Would you prefer, a strip tease and nice piece of ass?" she asks me smacking that perfect cheek of hers.

Now that's an idea.

"Couldn't hurt." I say and my eyes twinkle.

"Dream on Riddick." She says to me rolling her eyes.

"I should say the same about you princess." I counter. Hell if I'm gonna let that one by.

"The guest quarters are on the other side of the hallway. You my dear are smack dab in the middle of the women's quarters. Be careful. We bite." She tells me walking too close for comfort. I smile again.

"I'm tellin' ya Jack you're playing with fire." I warn. Better be sure now kid.

"Is that a challenge?" she says walking behind me. Using my tactics back on me, damn I need to turn this shit around again.

"Could be." I smirk, gotta love the balls she's got. Big ones.

She's sighing. "I missed you." she says in a purr. "I missed how you'd stalk," I'm really enjoying this, cause she's still walking around me but now she's touching my shoulders with a wet finger. "It was so _naughty _to watch."

The way she's talkin' now, the beast just might make an appearance.

"You aren't playing nice." I growl as her breasts and that damn silk graze my arm.

_Say that again, Jack. I dare you._

"And you shouldn't stare at people in the shower." She replies, got me there Jackie.

"How long are you staying?" she asks suddenly concerned. "Are you still on the run?"

"I'll always be on the run Jack. But I manage. I gotta say, for the record, you turned out pretty nice."

She kills me, by twirling around. "Really? I'm glad you noticed. This is one of my compulsions, one of my many vices. I want to never be weak. I always want to let go, but never seemed to be allowed to. I will not bow to anyone. Being strong, for me, is being free."

I know what she means. But she's killing me here. She's got the power, my power and I don't know how I lost it.

"You couldn't let go if someone helped you. Holy man's got you wound so tight you couldn't squeeze a diamond out your ass."

"How would you know?" That's right Jack, go there I dare you.

"That lap dance against the door was pretty interesting. Do you do that often?"

"Shut up you pervert." She spits. Fire, thy name is woman.

"Aw what's the matter Jack, couldn't get me out of your head? Can't seem to get rid of that ache?" I quip, I know she hears me, but she's doing her best to ignore me. I come up behind her and feel that silk against her ass, damn fine ass… I run my hands down her arms and against her sides causing her to sigh against me.

_That's it, let it go, I got ya._

"Really, are you so sure about my ass Riddick?"

Wow, now that took courage. Then she rubs it against me, and the tide is turned again. Shit, how the fuck did I let her get away with that?

Growling out loud doesn't help. "Bastard." She says moaning against my neck. This is more fun than I've had in a while. "You're not being fair."

And for just a moment I see what she's got locked up so tight. Poor kid, having to live with _that_ shut up like a caged animal. No one should have to live like that.

"Never said I was gonna be." I whisper in her ear. "Just the animal stalking it's prey." I growl that one… Man's she's got a stubborn streak in her

"Stop screwing around with my head Riddick. It's late and I'm not in the mood."

"Now Jack, the fucking hasn't started yet and I guarantee you're in the mood." She pushes off me and let me tell you those breasts are lethal.

"Go Riddick. I'll see you at breakfast, then after you and I are going to fight. Cause this shit has got to stop."

"Whatever you say sugar. I'm game. A good fight is just as liberating as a good pouncing." I smile and she surprises me.

She walks up to me and wraps her arms around my neck. "I'm glad you're back really. I'm so sorry I'm so edgy. There's so much going on. It's been so hard without you."

Now, I was perfectly fine with the way this conversation was headed.

"Good night Riddick. I really am very glad your back. To…" she says but doesn't finish because she kisses my cheek, slowly and softly. DAMN…

And I swear, as I walk out of the room, the feel of her body against me, the soft wetness of those lips on my cheek, I realize something I wasn't expecting.

I'm totally fucked. She's won again.


	4. A Rude Awakening

The next morning, Jack looks nothing like she did when I saw her in her room. She's dressed in a long black skirt, a deep violet shirt that is way to concealing for my tastes, and a veil and long coat. "Good morning Riddick." She says to me. Her face is all I see, not one hair on her head, not one piece of her creamy skin except her hands, and she has a pair of gloves in one hand and the cover to her veil in the other.

She's pale. There's barely any color in her face and it looks like she's been crying.

_What the hell are you wearing? "_Morning Jack. What's with the whatever that is?"

"I have to go into town and its against the law for a woman to show her hair or any skin in public."

No way.

"A woman's hair and body are sacred and only to be seen by her husband and family Mr. Riddick. Jack is very respectful of the ways of New Mecca. It is for her protection that she dresses thus. Others will be offended to see her so exposed as you and I view her." Imam says matter of factly. _The fuck you say._

He rises from the breakfast table and I watch Jack quietly take our mugs and dishes. She's glaring at me because my eyes are popping out of my head and I bet that my mouth is wide open.

"I will accompany her to the market since walking without a male member of the family is discouraged. There, she will get fresh meat and bread for a special dinner she will prepare for us. Mr. Riddick, Jack has become a fine cook. She has a grasp of spice that is sinful."

_I bet. Sinful, there's a word…_

"I'll go with her. We need to catch up on a few things." I suggest. "It's okay, no one knows me and I'm not on any new hot list. I'd love Jack to show me around."

Things have definitely changed around here and not for the better. I need the truth from Jack and getting her alone is the only way I can do that. Plus, I want her with me as much as possible. After last night, I don't want her out of my sight.

"Thank you Mr. Riddick. Be aware that she is not to speak with any men. It is also an offense. You are to ask her what she desires and then you ask the merchants. They will only address you since you are her escort. And Jack, be careful. Mr. Riddick, make sure no men approach her."

He's shooting her the death glare I remember getting as a kid from my foster father. It's the don't fuck up glare. _Oh Jackie, what have you been up to?_

"Okay, but I don't see _that_ happening." I tell him. No one's coming near Jack if I can help it.

I watch her cover her pretty face and see only her hazel eyes. Imam retreats to his study and I put my hands on her shoulders and whisper. "Jack what the fuck has been going on since I left? Jesus!"

"If you only knew…" is all she says and she sounding so broken. Had I known Jack, I would have taken you with me….

We walk outside and immediately I see two men standing across the street. I noticed them the night before and they look like muscle. I also notice the guards in front of Imam's place. "You see them Jack? Who the fuck are they?"

"Faisal Mohammed's men. He likes to know where I am at all times. Thinks I'm gonna be his when the week is out and is looking after his property."

I go to answer her and she's standing behind me and to the side. "What the fuck is going on?"

Quietly, she walks beside me. "Where do I begin? How about when we got here they latched onto Imam like a warrior for the faith and it got worse after that? Don't glare Riddick. I can't walk next to you. Shut up and don't dare laugh."

I wouldn't even dream of that, I'm too stunned.

"You've got to be shitting me. Then what?" I say walking slowly and still feeling the tail. "How many rules are there for you to have to obey?"

"Too many. No music, no laughing in public. Any man can beat any woman of his family for any offense and we can't do a thing about it." she whispers as her hand at her side touches my wrist. She knows I'm pissed. This is one fucked up planet.

"No tattoos, piercings, and we're baby factories. We can't even get a job. What's worse is that at the age of seventeen, we are to…oh shit." she says as her face looks towards the ground. Fear is welling up inside her and I look towards the group of men outside the entrance to the market.

Mother fuckers, they're staring, _at my Jack._


	5. Staking the claim

"Get behind me." he told her grabbing her hand and forcing her to stand behind his massive chest. "Who's the big fat one?"

"That would be Faisal Mohammed. He's the bastard that wants me." she croaked as he felt her hand squeezing his wrist as he held onto her.

_You mean the dead man walking._

A man, dressed in a robe similar to Imam's stood there staring openly at Jack. "Jack don't look up no matter what you do." He told her as they walked passed a dozen or so men.

She didn't need to be told twice. This little encounter was Riddick marking her as his and he wanted to make damn sure that they all knew it. She felt his hand on the small of her back and it felt like tiny hot rods were warming her. "Jack, you and I are gonna talk, when we get back and I don't want you to leave anything out. You understand me?"

She nodded and they bought their bread and meats. He asked her what she wanted and she spoke in a hushed hurried tone as he spoke to the butcher, then the baker. Then a girl, of about thirteen handed her a flower and wished her blessings and he could have sworn it had been a signal of some sort.

"Thank Yasmine for the flower and tell her I receive it with humble thanks." She said in flat, docile tone.

He hated it instantly.

The walk back was silent and he wondered how she could be so calm on the outside when he knew she was freaking out inside.

When they walked into the villa, Imam was waiting and the look on his face was one of resignation and regret. The fear that the look betrayed in her eyes tore at Riddick and he got the message quickly enough.

"Child, go to your room for a moment. I must speak to Mr. Riddick."

She bowed and retreated walking up the stairs without a word of protest. Riddick looked at her and was speechless. The disobedient streak was completely gone and was replaced with a subservient one.

He hated this worse than that voice she used in public.

_What the fuck did they do to her? I should have taken her with me…_

"I am glad you did not dawdle. We must talk about Jack. In less than two days, she will be brought before the council, in this very house and bid on as wife. I have already been sent marriage proposals. Several prominent men want her as wife." He told Riddick and sat down with a heavy heart.

_Over my dead body._

"I am not her legal guardian and she will be seventeen in a matter of days. I will no longer be able to fulfill my oath to protect her. You must. She is a coveted prize and will be bartered like an animal. I will not have that for her. She is too precious to me to let them."

"No one's gonna do a damn thing to her holy man. I won't let them." Riddick said low and menacing.

The relief from Imam's chair was palpable.

"She will not be permitted to leave openly. They will hunt her down." he told Riddick and Imam's face showed a concern that he had been trying to hide for some time. "The men who have influence will try and kidnap her if they can. They want a certain type of wife, many having several already. The laws here are very unique in the system. Hellion Prime is the only planet where the age of majority is seventeen."

"Cause these bastards like them young." he said pacing with a thinly veiled fury.

"The house is being watched. I have no doubt of that. What will you do?" he asked in desperation.

"Don't worry holy man. I'll get her out. It's my turn to take care of her. And I plan to…"_ forever_. He wanted to say. "How much of a payday is she?"


	6. Explanations and Realizations

"At the last meeting I was told, one quarter million." He says. _Well fuck me._

"She is beautiful, is she not?" Imam asks me. _Hell yeah holy man. _"Here she is a pearl among swine…fair skinned, bright eyed and fiery. Men find that tantalizing."

_Yeah no kidding._

He's quiet for a moment and I figure this is a good time to do some thinking of my own. Jack, so beautiful—those son of a bitches taking turns trying to figure out which one of those fat bastards get to fuck her first.

HELL NO.

"We have a connection, you, Jack and I, and we owe you a great debt. I know that she has certain feelings towards you and she trusts you. I know that the 'trust' she has for you is not one sided." _I'm thinking feelings would be good instead of trust and I think that's what he's talking about._ "I hope you will understand what I'm asking of you."

The rational part of me is thinking, yeah don't touch her, I get that.

But this is me. I can't promise that, but I can try. "I think I do." I say looking at him. I'm getting that you hurt my baby and I'll kill you vibe. He loves her. He wants her safe. He wants her happy. I can't blame him for that.

But she wants me. That's not the issue. It's whether she should. "Soon holy man. The less you know the better."

"They will send people for her. Some will not take this lightly."

I close my eyes and put my head in my hands and rub my eyes.

Story of my life.

"Certain men Mr. Riddick, will not be pleased to see her missing. There was an incident, about six months ago that made this entire situation dangerous, to say the very least. It was my fault and I failed her miserably."

I can just imagine. This is Jack we're talking about.

"What happened?" I ask. No one was touching her, not while I have air in my lungs.

Not unless that someone is me…

"Several prominent men were in my kitchen attending a meeting one evening. I cannot even remember what we were discussing and it had grown late."

I can see where this is going. Jack can't sleep, what happens, she comes downstairs like she was dressed last night. Hair falling around her bare shoulders, spaghetti strapped night gown, pale skin, maybe it was a little chilly.

Skin, tattooed and gorgeous. Big problems…

"She had fallen asleep and came down for something to drink as is her custom after a nightmare. She gets dehydrated." He tells me as if I need to know that right now. I'm still fantasizing about her walking down flush and dressed like that. "She happened upon us have the meeting and needless to say, everyone stopped speaking and stared, some wantonly."

I would have been one of them. Bet there wasn't a limp dick in the room.

"She was unveiled, in her bed clothes… Many of the men gawked at her like errant school boys. It was very shameful, but you know men…"

And I do, we're a horny bunch. It's genetic.

"One of the men," he said avoiding my eyes because I kind of have an idea, "put his hands on her."

Which mother fucker did that cause the next word out of holy man's mouth better be that name. Cause when I hear it he's dead.

As pissed as I am, I'm cool, he needs to finish this cause Jackie and I are having a conversation once I get upstairs. "I will not tell you. It is enough to say, she retaliated for his shameful act, quite violently. I had left the room for a moment and when I returned, she not only had removed his hand, but a knife was at his throat. He still bares the scar from the edge against his throat. Since then, she has been under his watchful eyes, and much coveted as wife by _some_. If she chooses to tell you, then she will."

He wants this conversation to end. He's mighty uncomfortable. I've heard enough. "Mr. Riddick, there is a custom, upon the 17th birthday of a woman, they…"

"I know, they unveil her and paw at her trying to make up their minds who gets first shot. I know. Jack told me. That's not going to happen."

"It must. Even if you leave, we have to go through with it." he demanded.

"No. No one's touching her." I growl.

"You cannot stop them. They will take her by force. And it is in two days." He warns me.

"Watch me." I say needing to leave the room before I explode.


	7. Riddick to the Rescue

Jack was sitting on her bed looking at the wall. Imam was troubled and she could see that plainly. She still had her coat on and had only removed her veil.

_Well shit, I've done it again, whatever it is…_

"Jack." Riddick said looking at her sitting in the dark room.

"Yeah? I screwed up again didn't I?" she asked looking forlorn.

"No, you didn't." he said coming towards her. He got on his knees and knelt in front of her. "Take that coat off, it makes you look like an bag lady."

He helped her out of it and saw she'd been crying silently again. "Stop the water works kid."

"I'm not crying Riddick. I don't cry." She said looking at him and staring at the luminescent silver pools.

"Then your face's sprung a leak." He chuckled as he wiped the tears from her eyes. "Holy man told me about your date with the elders. Same night gown as last night?"

"No, this one had a slit up the side and was white. The bastard ripped it when he grabbed me. I burned it and won't ever wear that color again."

"Tell me what happened. Imam wasn't in the room and I want to know how you did it." he said putting his arm around her and sat on the bed next to her.

"One asshole put his hands on me. He pulled me against him and took his hand and put it underneath my night gown to feel my…" she said looking away. _That's enough, I get the picture._

"That man is a dead mother fucker." He growled. "Bet it was that fat fuck from the market."

She nodded her head. "Faisal Mohammed. Known for his cruelty. But what he didn't know was I had dreamed we were back on T2, that the monsters had taken you. I was VERY upset and still had your shiv in my hand. He made a big mistake trying to get in my panties. After I grabbed his fat fingers, I broke all the them one at a time, with the shiv in my mouth, then when the others tried to stop me, I put it to his neck."

_Damn Jack, I would have love to have seen that._

"Really?" he replied smiling broadly. His inner beast growled as well.

"Yes. You bet your ass I did. Salim would have been so proud. I felt so bad for Imam, he came back in the room and my hand was around his throat with the shiv, and it drew blood. No one touches me unless I say so." She tells me and I just realize that she's leaning against my chest and my hand is holding hers.

Am I worried? Not on your life. But how did I _not_ notice that happen?

"You have no idea how I felt." She says getting up. I can feel the animal within her gaining strength remembering the feeling of freedom. She actually growls at me and let me tell you, she's so damn sexy when she does. "And it felt _really_ good." She says her eyes lighting up.

I'll be fucked. I think I might have just said that out loud cause she's laughing. Who'd of thought Jack an animal just like me. She's looking down at me with a glint in her eye.

I smile, broadly letting her know I approve. You see when the animal shows itself, there's a type of electricity in the air. It's a trip to experience, and I'm so happy it's me she's shown it to.

_Hello Jack, welcome to my world kid._

"I don't like it when people just paw me. That's unless I _want_ them to." She tells me. Duly noted princess.

"Been savin yourself Audrey?" I ask, cause I'm sorry but I got to fuck with her a little.

"Don't call me that name. Audrey died on that planet. Do you like it when they call you…Dick?" she asks me looking down at my crotch and licking her lips. "Wouldn't you like to know."

Jack, now that wasn't fair.

Now when I hear this, stiff as that just made me, and smelling her like I do, I gotta tell ya she's making this being a gentleman very difficult. "Imam must have had a fit when he found you."

"Yeah, after the guy stopped screaming." She tells me. _No way some limp dick is gonna nail my Jack. That's my job_-my beast informs me.

"I would have killed him Riddick. Then Imam came to me and took the shiv and I was escorted kicking and screaming out of the room. I don't think he ever got over it." she says looking at me trying to not feel so good about the fact that she had that asshole right where she wanted him. "I won't let him touch me."

"That's not gonna happen Jack. No one's gonna touch you." _except maybe me. Probably me._

_Aw fuck, get used to it, no one's gonna touch you Jack ... but me._

"Try telling that to Imam. He wanted to appease Faisal Mohammed and I wouldn't do it. I'll kill them all. They'll make me stand in a room, they'll take my veil off, paw at my hair, touching it, running their hands on me. I won't let them do it. Do you realize when they find my tattoos I'll be beaten for that? What about the fact that I listen to subversive music, or the fact that I…"

I get it Jack, you're fucked.

"I love Imam like a father, but he's got no choice. They're not selling me off like some slave. No way. Men are…they all hurt you in the end."

Damn Jack. That's not true, well, yeah it is, but I won't let that happen to you.

She plops back down on the bed and lays down. "You know, if I were caught in here with you by any of them, I would be beaten to death for fornication? I don't even get the benefit of getting laid, just a 'you're a whore' and a beating till my ass is a bloody pulp."

"I'll take my chances." I tell her. Let someone try that shit with her while I'm around.

"What are you gonna do?" she asks me. Now that's a loaded question.

"I won't let them hurt you Jack. That's a promise." I tell her and she knows by giving me that look. "got some ideas though…"

She's smirking at me as I look down at her. I'm on her bed, she's flat on her back and I'm stiff as a board. You do the math here. "Pervert."

"Tease." I say right back. Now we're back to fucking with each other. This is better than having her worry about getting…well you know.

"Prude." She snaps back.

"I am not prude Jack." I contend, hey I got a rep to protect. I need to back this down or she'll find out and my whole being a good guy will all be for shit.

She gets off the bed and chuckles, yeah Jack you think about that one a while.

She walks over to her dresser, picks out a pair of black jeans and slips them underneath that skirt. "If you don't mind, turn your head there big guy."

I respect her but have to go there. "I've already seen you naked."

"Yeah, and who said you could see me then, huh?" I can hear the buttons on the jeans being done and she's already opened the shirt. I've incredible hearing. "Now, you can turn around."

She's standing in the dark with a black shirt, skin tight I might add and a pair of button fly low rise jeans. "Better. That other shit made you look like an old lady. Salim's a good man?"

"Yeah. Wanna talk to me while I cook?" she asks me.

"Sure. First, let me tell you something." I tell her pulling her on my lap. I just had to touch her.

That was a mistake. "Maybe you'd better stand up. I'm trying to be a gentleman here." See, I still even though I'm gonna get serious, have to go there…

She laughs and stays put. Then wiggles on purpose. I groan.

"Richard Anderson, at your service." I say putting my hand out like a dork. "That's my name, it should be good for a while, I'm trying to blend in."

Her smile is the best thing in the world and I love it when it's because of me. "You Riddick, could never blend in." she says leaning towards my ear.

Not that Jack. Parts of me won't respond the way I want it to when you do that and you're sitting right on me. "You're too much of a," she says grabbing the back of my neck to pull me closer, "predator for that."

"Jack. " I warn.

"What?" she asks breathing in my ear. "You like it when I tell you secrets?"

_Oh yeah…_

"Be good." Remember to keep your hands to yourself. She needs you to be a gentleman not a fucken animal.

She pouts and it makes me want to kiss that right off her face which would make keeping her out of bounds very difficult.

"Why did you come back?" she asks me as I hold her close making her feel comfortable and me very uncomfortable.

"For you Jack." I reply almost in a whisper. "For you."


	8. Company’s coming what’s for dinner?

Imam just told me that instead of a family dinner that the council has called a meeting. It's about Jack and four other girls but let's be honest, it's about Jack.

"Mr. Riddick, I must warn you. There are several men who will be here tonight that do not see you as a family friend or relation."

_Good they see me as a rival._

"Yeah, I get that a lot, pecking order---law of the jungle." I tell him. _Don't worry holy man I'm king of the beasts._

"Their women will be coming. Jack will need to entertain them in the courtyard." He tells me. "Right now Jack is with Salim if you wish to see her. She is restless and afraid. She is uncomfortable with how she has developed. She had been a boy for so long, feelings like the ones she has been dealing with have been hard. Plus the woman are jealous and are not polite when they show it. Take great care."

_Bitches, great just what the party needs. _"Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep that in mind. Hey, Jack has nothing to worry about. It's just me. Don't worry holy man. How much time do we have?" I'm having her fucken pack, right now.

"About an hour." is all he says as he walks to his study and closes the door.

I can tell he's uneasy, in his shoes I would be too. She's a good girl and doesn't need the shit that's going on.

As I go outside, I notice they're fighting with knives, and hell she's good. She's fast and very nimble. I'm impressed. Plus I can tell how she's enjoying it. It's almost sexual. Hey, everyone's gotta have an outlet.

"Hello Jack." I say in the low growl I know she loves. She smirks at me. She's covered in sweat and let me tell you, Imam's right, she's gonna be a handful.

I can handle that…

She bows to her teacher and he walks over and shakes my hand. "Good evening. I am Salim Ib Haben Maz. I have heard much about you."

"How's she doing?" I ask watching her take the weapons and put them away.

"She's fast but arrogant. They all are at that age." Now that's funny. I'm laughing now and she's glaring.

Get over it kid.

"Are you done?" I ask him looking at her smiling. She's glaring at me.

_Babe, I'm lovin' it. You try that tough kid shit and see where that gets you…_

"Yes, we are. Thank you Jack, you may go." And I watch her bow and leave just as docile as you please. That is just amazing to watch cause I know all she wants to do is flip us off and do as she pleases.

"I need to talk. Did Imam tell you what's going on?"

"Yes. It is truly as shame. Subjugating our women is not what we intended when we came to New Mecca. What do you have in mind to help her? She has helped many families in the last year and I want to do something to help her in return."

Now I'm wondering what the hell he's talking about.

"She is like a daughter to me and I do not want her to fall into Faisal Mohammed's hands. He is a barbarous man with deviant fetishes. You understand my meaning don't you?"

I did and the thought of that mother fucker touching her makes me want to kill something. "Which one is he?"

"He is large like you, but fat and slow. He carries a large scar across his neck, from Jack," he says smiling a bit. Now he isn't proud is he? "and his men are constantly around him."

Good, I need to know my enemy.

Salim looks worried all of a sudden. "He is determined to break her." He looks at me and I know he's feeling the rage like I am. But he's hiding a lot better than I am.

"I saw that piece of shit in the market. Kept looking at her like…" _you look at her…_ my beast growls.

She's like my sister, shut the fuck up.

_You don't have a sister, you don't want a sister dickey boy. You want her._

"He plays with fire. He should have never touched her, Mr. Riddick."

"I know, I've known Jack for years." I tell him looking at her window. _She's all animal._

"She's changed since she arrived here. She's a passionate woman and I have watched her evolve from a lonely shattered child into the woman you see before you. She's like a volcano waiting to erupt, constantly challenged to be something other than what she was meant to. That is the life they have made her lead, subservient, cruel and repressive. She deserves freedom."

Don't we all.

"Imam is relieved that you have returned. He has lost control of the will of the people and Faisal is corrupt and very rich."

"I heard about that." I said thinking what are they expecting? "What are you saying?"

"Jack is special, but this I think you already know. Be good to her, she deserves someone who will respect her and make her happy. Imam refuses to believe that she is no longer a child, but both you and I can plainly see that she has grown into quite a woman. Headstrong, passionate and free thinking."

I had to agree but was this guy telling me to be a gentleman?

"I will. I have a plan but I'm gonna need your help. You up for it?" I ask him taking a look at his cloak and hood.


	9. Time to meet the Joneses

From the courtyard, Jack could hear the men arrive. She had finished packing, an order from Riddick and he had left with the two bags that contained her entire life.

She watched them in their prayers, knowing Riddick was at the ship and wanted nothing more than to lock herself in her room. They were alone in their prayers, kneeling and saying the words like a song. The women stood in the salon, waiting to feel the night breeze and eat.

It was only when the retired to the house did she walk outside, did she feel the slightest bit better.

_This night is gonna suck. _

When they sat, all twenty of them looked at her. Some of the older ones actually glared, shooting her accusatory glances. _Fuck you bitch. Stop staring at me before I rip your eyeballs out._

Temptress, they called her, harlot. They sat there unveiled and watching her, talking about her like she wasn't even there. It was the worst type of punishment. But over the years, she had gotten used to it. Imam had taught her early on to reject suck talk, but it still could hurt.

Women were jealous creatures, he would say. _Yeah all of them are bitching old ladies too._

It was only when they addressed her did she respond. She had learned to go inward, to disappear so that none of it would hurt so much.

"Child it is an honor that you should be such a sought after Azrani." He heard them call her as he lurked in the shadows. His hands were fisted at his sides enraged by their treatment of her.

_What the hell does that mean? _He thought because the way they said it, it sounded like a curse. It broke his hart to watch how they enjoyed tearing her apart. He looked at her, impassive and wondered how upset she was underneath.

_Furious I bet._

"I am not worthy of such praise." She said calmly looking at her lap, a mask of composure. She was a docile as a lamb and the epitome of a lady.

Her politeness seemed to spur them on into railing her with insults. His blood was boiling. How could she let them do that to her?

_What the fuck had been going on and for how long?_

"Look at her! Ha!" the oldest one said clucking her mouth. "She is too proud. She has too much wantonness in her. She shames us."

"You should be grateful." The next one said. "Ziza, look at how she sits, as if she enjoys provoking us. You will be taught humility Adeni. Rest assured when Faisal gets you under his thighs, you'll learn."

And he watched silently all though this exchange, which went on and on for over tow hours, Riddick wanted nothing more than to ghost them all.

He returned down stairs when the men had begun their negotiations. He wanted to remind Imam that this wasn't about Jack, but deep down he knew it was. Imam nervously introduced him. "Gentlemen, this is Richard Anderson, he is a close friend. We have been through difficult and prosperous times and I want you to welcome him."

Riddick, having dressed in a pair of black slacks, and a white shirt, just to look respectable, shook their hands and wanted to show he could play nice. But all he wanted was to kill them all. Underneath the scrutiny of a dozen or so men, he felt Faisal's glare. "You are the one from the market. You escorted Adeni."

"You mean Jack?" he said wanting a translation of the word.

"That's a man's name. She is called Adeni in my world." He said standing up.


	10. Up close and personal Riddick style

Is this a pissing contest or what? Don't fuck with me, you son of a bitch. You'll lose. "She's not in your world."

"She will be." He tells me looking oh, so important in the robe and hat. Is he kidding?

_Not if I have anything to say about it asshole._

"How do you figure?" I ask and my animal is bringing this guy's hackles up. Got you there mother fucker.

"She will be my wife." He says to me and he's trying to his best to look menacing. Pussy, I've seen better faces on whores in the street.

"Wrong." I growl getting a look from Imam. It's now or never. I'm letting you know she's off limits.

At this point, he's standing toe to toe with me and I'm not backing down. He looks as if no one's ever done that before and I like seeing him squirm a bit. Big and slow, Salim told me. No problem.

She's mine and that's a fact he'd better get used to. He's looking at the holy man and trying to make him tell me to back down. Fat chance of that happening.

"The council will decide who she is wed to." Imam interrupts. Hey, holy man, it's just us animals here, leave us be. "Gentlemen, let us break the fast and talk of other things."

"What is _it_ worth to you stranger?" It meaning Jack. Everything asshole and you're still not getting the point.

I'm ready to throw down. "You mean what is _she_ worth?" I say through my teeth. My patience is thin at best and the beast wants blood.

Imam is attempting to get in the middle and I shoot him a look that pretty much tells him to back off. There's gonna be a payday on my head again, I can feel it, cause this mother fucker is a dead man.

"You laid your hands on her." I say removing my goggles.

"She is Adeni and I will have her." he says staring me down.

"Wrong answer." I say and walk out before I start sticking him like a pig.


	11. The friendly warning

It was late before Riddick settled down. Over the course of the evening, Jack was discussed as the prize for this month's litter of eligible women. Her bride price payable to the council was nearly one million by the time Imam called it to a close. He was wondering if Riddick had that much, not that it would matter, they would disappear soon and she would be safe. He was just grateful no blood was spilled.

"Mr. Riddick. It is good to see you now. I worried for a time. I want to thank you for your restraint." He said looking at the man who could have torn it all down, effortlessly. "Faisal Mohammed is a dangerous man."

"So am I holy man. He wants a fight." He growled looking down at the courtyard watching Jack do kata to relieve her stress. He could smell her and knew she was furious. "What was it he called her?"

"Adeni, Ah. The fiery one. Temptress." He translated. "One who has the hottest blood, a seductress."

"What about Azrani?" he asked agreeing with the term and watching her dance-like movements in the almost complete darkness.

"You know she rarely uses the light. She has learned to embrace the darkness. Azrani means virginal one, purity from the sins of the flesh." He explained watching the fluid movements she did. She was beautiful, graceful. "Who has called her such a name?"

He drank in her visage in the moonlight like water in the desert and answered him. "An old crone with a hooked nose and a hump on her back. The way I heard it, it sounded like a curse."

"Ah, Ziza. She is the mother of Faisal, first wife to his father." Imam answered. "She is an evil woman, who has no love for anyone other than herself. Mr. Riddick?"

"Yeah, holy man?" he asked almost as an after thought.

"I must remind you that Faisal will pay the bride price and come to take her. She has three days."

"I know." Was all he said.


	12. What have they done?

Shouting back at the women, although rewarding, would have served no purpose and Jack needed to release some aggression. When I sense this standing outside the door, I know it has to be now. We can't wait any longer.

It took me a while to be able to approach her because those assholes made me so mad I would not have wanted to take it out on her. EVER.

I don't talk, I just open the door, quietly. I see her, in complete darkness sitting on the bed in her still in her clothes, a small satchel at her feet. She's been packing the rest of her things. Good girl, it's what I'd do.

"Jack?" I whisper because the silence is comforting.

"What, Riddick?" she asks me. She's upset, her breathing is all wrong and I know that she's ready to bolt. Why did I come?

_To see her naked again._

No, to find out what happened after I left. "Can I come in?

"Please." She says in a voice so small, so fragile. "I have no secrets."

Good because I need you to be honest with me. I need that from the one good thing in my life.

"Are you okay?" I ask and watch her sigh, a sad forlorn sigh that breaks my heart. "What did they say to you?"

She scoffs that the question. "That I am tempting their men. They say I have shamed them That its my fault they don't get to have sex any longer. I have committed Jabbar Kabirah. A grave mortal sin. Do I look like something that would tempt a man like that?"

Her eyes are full of tears and all I can think of is HELL YEAH.

But I realize that they have torn her down so many times, that she has no idea how beautiful she is. "Is this the kind of shit you've had to put up with while I was gone?"

"Pretty much. Sometimes it was much worse. Tonight was pretty tame. I'm just tired. I haven't been able to sleep since you got here and I'm pretty tire. I have a roof over my head and no mercs, at least there's that. We're you listening?"

She was right again. "I'm sorry Jack." And before I realize it, I'm across the room and she's in my arms. Feeling Jack pressed up against me is the most amazing feeling in the world. "Salim's coming in one hour. Can you be ready by then?"

"I'm ready now." she says sniffing. "I've been ready for four years."

Well shit. She's so soft, but at the same time so tough. She's never been afraid of me, never once judged me and always trusted me without question.

How'd I ever get this lucky?

"Can I say good bye to Imam?" she asks. No baby, the less he knows the better and my silence is my answer.

"Hey, don't cry. I won't let them take you. You know that right?" I tell her making her look at me. "It's my turn to take care of you. Like I should have done since T2."

That makes her cry harder. Shit. I hate when she does that. "Princess, you're face has sprung a leak again. Wanna hear something?"

"Sure. I'm sorry. I'm so tired. So deathly tired." she sighs. I understand that kind of tired well.

"You missed a good show tonight. I got into a pissing contest with Faisal Mohammed. Jack, I'm going to kill him for touching you."

That makes what color she had drain from her face and her break out into a cold sweat. She knows I don't bullshit about things like this.

"No!" she shouts. "Don't. What good would it do? Then we'd have a payday on both our heads."

Kid, they wouldn't catch me and I would enjoy making him suffer. "All right, I won't, _for now._ But if I don't do something violent soon, I'm gonna lose it."

"In a 'mood'?" she asks sarcastically. "Couldn't be worse than my night."

I can tell that last comment made her feel better. Sarcasm is always the best when she's like this. Alarm, I hate that, sarcasm, that I can deal with.

She sits on the settee and I walk near the window and start. Gotta get her mind off of being scared. Don't ask me why I know this, I just do. "Well Jack, _I_ had to listen to a dozen horny old bastards trying to figure out which one would fuck you first. My night pretty much sucked. Did you know they had pictures of you?" After seeing her unveiled and smiling all I could think about was me fucking you…hard and the thoughts of some asshole fucking Jack put me into a right pissy mood.

She's a good girl and I doubt she's wanting that either. She could do a lot better than me. They think I'm dangerous. I could tell that right off. Good At least they're warned.

"Then we're definitely a pair. And yes, I knew about the pictures. Salim's son Kalifa, a good friend of mine, took them, and yes, he got beaten for it when they found out."

"They were pretty hot Jack, even though you had your clothes on." I say and she looks down at the floor. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

She smirks. "Could be some semi nude shots but you'll never find them."

WHAT?! "Really?" I say moving in and smiling. "Where-are-they-Jack?"

"Why do you think I'm called Adeni?" she says leaning back against the settee.

"Jack, has Mohammed seen these?" I ask cause that could make it much harder to not kill him right away.

"No. I have them. On my lap top and there are no others, maybe just one. What makes you so interested all of a sudden Riddick, it's not like you haven't seen me naked already. Speaking of Faisal…"

Oh no she's not leaving it at that. I know her lap top is right in that bag. "Jack. What are you to Kalifa?"

"Yasmine's brother is a good friend who I have beaten up for three and half years. He's a good friend and my accomplice in crime."

"What kind of crime?" I ask. I'm dying to see that photo, or photos depending on what kind of bullshit she's slinging.

"I hack into people's records, and do things. Get girls new idents, ships, that kind of stuff. It pays big money. Why?"

"Need to know what skills you got kid. Good. Can you show me?" Maybe that will get her to open that computer… I'm such a pervert.

"Sure, it's right next to the nude photos, did I say nude? I meant semi nude." She teases me. She knows I'm interested and makes it worse. "Riddick?"

"Yeah kid?"

"You're so obvious. I'll show you later, when we're safe. It might take a while."

You aren't kidding. Gotta change the subject or I'll not be thinking straight.

"Back to your night…"

"I had to hear from three of Faisal's wives how big he is and how lucky I'm gonna be. Apparently he's all bluster, no endurance. That's what I have to look forward to, a short fuse. Yippee for me. I'm gonna love _that._"

Aw Jack, I don't feel sorry in the least. "What a waste…" I smirk. She's at least laughing at that one.

Now, if it were me you'd get a long, slow, hard… I need to focus...that's Jack and you're not getting any of that…

"Apparently five minutes is his personal best." Now the tears are rolling down her cheeks and I can't help but smile. It's a triumphant, I know you're gonna get better smile. Her laughing is much better than her being so scared and sad. "When the women would come to socialize, we would get lectured on mechanics, then we had to learn how to dance for our husbands. According to tradition, it is designed to excite them. By the way, I'm fantastic at it."

_Gonna give me a free show sometime princess?_

"Aw Jack, poor thing, his gun goes off before you can get yours loaded. What a life you'll lead." I quip, I just couldn't help that. "You were always an over achiever."

_Seeing you dance for me, now that's a plan_, my beast suggests. "What kind of dancing?" I hear myself say.

"The teasing kind you pervert. The kind that makes you hard as a rock. What other kind is there? Also, get this." She says from the bathroom where I can see she's pinning her hair up. "All his wives and concubines have born him daughters, no sons. Ziza warned me to bear him a son, fast. He beats them when they give him girls. What a bastard. He should be happy to have children."

"You're not having that conversation with him. I'm not letting him near you. Not even with the million dollar payday they've got for you now."

I'm fascinated by how she's coiling it up when she leans towards me and says, "Wow, a million? It's gotta be the virgin thing."

"No, it's most probably the fact that virgins are always a high ticket item… Personally I…"

"Not a word Riddick. I don't want to know…" she says flushed. What's a matter Jack, don't want to know my personal tastes?

"I think it's because you'd look tempting in just about anything. Do you realize how beautiful you are?" I say without realizing it. _keep your opinions to yourself asshole._

She's embarrassed. Shit, I should have kept that to myself. "I am not. They hate me because I'm foreign."

"And from what I could see they're all fat, ugly and mean." I say trying to make her feel better. The fact that they've torn her down so badly makes me what to kill them all. It's not working and I am getting pissed. "They're just jealous. They're old and used up and can't get anyone's attention."

"Please stop." She pleads. Damn Jack, you stick with me and you'll know how awesome you are, every single fucking day.

"Sorry Jack. Are you mostly packed?" I ask feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden. What the hell is that about?

"Yes. Can I play my music on your ship? This is contraband and I could be beaten for playing it out loud. I like this music. Do you mind?"

How can I refuse her anything now? "I got something for that. Take whatever you want and the rest we'll replace once we get off this shit hole."

"How much longer?" she asked in that small frightened voice I hate.

"Soon." Is all I say as she stands by the window and stares out into the night.

I should have never left her. I'm such an idiot.


	13. The calm before the storm

In the darkness they've been silent. The peace between them was so profound that Riddick would not have traded for the world, for the entire universe. Jack had calmed the beast that threatened to kill the bastard that had touched her just by her presence by the window.

She hated to run out on Imam and not tell him where she was going but she wouldn't submit and he knew that. Riddick sat like a sentinel and watched her go inward again.

His heart broke every time he watched that happen. He looked at her and wondered how she had been so brave.

Riddick started to reform himself when he'd gotten the first in a string of odd jobs that paid very well. It took him nearly two years but he'd gotten enough to buy a ship and have some credits hidden away for a rainy day, so if she left anything, he'd get her what ever she needed to make her happy.

Sitting in the dark, he realized that exactly what he wanted… to make her happy.

"Riddick?" she asked moving quietly though the room.

"Yeah kid?" he answered in his lowest voice. "What's this?"

She threw him a chip. "Thought you might need this one day. Got one for myself too."

She walked over to him smiling that plastic smile he gave her earlier. "My name is Jane Carmichael. Plain Jane Carmichael, she's a computer programmer and student, remarried three months ago. Tragically my first husband died in a ship accident nearly four years ago. I'm twenty- four. My new husband's name is—"

He chuckled when he read it. "Richard Carmichael, age 27, got the age right. Aw, look I'm into shipping and secured transport. Nice. But Jack? You never struck me as plain, even at thirteen years old."

She blushed in the dimness of her rooms. "Does this mean I get privileges?" he said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Pig." She smirked smiling.

"You love it." he replied stunned and pleased as hell.

"Yeah I do." She said looking at him with affection. "Don't make me regret this. I spent almost a year setting this up. I could see the writing on the wall. This cost me a year's salary."

Then she handed him a case and sat down on the settee. "Here, these are for you. My friend Anne works at the med center."

"What the hell is this?" he asked confused.

"Camaflouge my husband. Miners who wanted reassignment are given these to correct their vision after a shine. Now instead of a convict, they see a miner, trying to better himself and his new wife, after a long life in a hole."

He didn't know what to say. She had given a great deal of thought to this and from what he could tell, she wasn't finished.

"One more thing." She said smiling. "When was the last time you had a merc on your neck?"

"Last year. They just seemed to stop sniffing around. Not that I'm complaining."

"It isn't your birthday, but I couldn't resist." She said handing him another document.

"What the fuck is this?"

It was his obituary.

"Richard B. Riddick, born in Detroit, Michigan, Earth. Sentenced to numerous penal colonies for murder and repeated escapes. On the run after surviving the crash of the Hunter Granzner on Tanis 2. One of only three survivors, the other two a small woman named Audrey Richards and a religious pilgrim referred to as El-Imam reported that his death was a relief and that they could begin to live again without the fear of his return. Riddick, died on New Pylian while being apprehended by Mercs, who had intended to return him to Butcher Bay.

I cried for a week. Imam was noticeably upset. They interviewed us for two weeks. We were very good. Congratulations Mr. Carmichael, that murderer Richard B. Riddick is dead, according to all databases and hot lists, you are officially a memory.

Everyone who knew our circumstances was overjoyed. I wouldn't eat for days, until Salim demanded it. He told me it was for the best. I was treated with respect and they all worried about my depression.

I was very good." She said winking. "Only Ziza and her women made me feel dirty and low. They said that I was your whore. That I…"

"Don't Jack." He said stunned. "you did all this for me?"

"Of course. I wanted to. You deserved something good. Don't worry, I'm very good. I've kind of helped others in the same circumstance and Imam turned a blind eye. That's why I am so obedient. But free, that's a whole other story."

"How did you know I'd come?" he asked looking at her on the settee. He held the documents for another moment and returned them to her satchel.

"You promised." _That's faith man. Holy man talks about faith, there it is, staring into my eyes._

"Come on Mrs. Carmichael, let's get going. Do I at least get a wedding night. It's been a long time since I…. Hey," he said as she smacked his arm playfully. "I had to ask…"

Her smirk was satisfaction enough.

She felt his hand on the small of her back and without another led her down the stairs, hold her bag over his shoulder. The courtyard was dark and Salim and half dozen of his men waited for them. "Child."

"Salim." Riddick said looking into his eyes and envying the time he had been able to spend with her.

Unveiled standing in the midst of Imam and Salim's most trusted men she was on the verge of tears, "I will miss all of you. But you most of all." She said looking up towards Imam's window.

Riddick set her bag down and shook Salim's hand. She walked towards one of his guards and tried not to be jealous of the familiarity.

"Riddick, this is Kalifa. Kalifa, this is for Yasmine. She's coming of age soon and I want you to get her away. There's enough money to get you all settled somewhere. It's my gift for taking that beating for me."

She handed him two chips and kissed his cheek. "Be safe." He said to her as he looked at Riddick. "Take care of this wanton Adeni. She needs a firm hand." He smirked looking at Jack.

She smacked him hard and laughed. "I know just what to do. Jack. Take this." He said giving Kalifa the message that he needed to move away from her.

Riddick handed her the clothing of Imam's guards, a black cloak and black shroud around the face. She had masqueraded as a boy for so long, she felt awkward doing it again, even if it was so she could escape.

Before the shroud was laced over her head leaving only her eyes exposed, she placed a kiss on Salim's cheek, trying her best to smile. 'Good bye." Was all she said as she put the satchel underneath the heavy clothing.

Riddick put his hand out, "Time to go Jack." He said as the others stood by and watched.


	14. Escape from New Mecca

The streets of New Mecca were mostly deserted at that hour and Riddick's sense of stealth was complimented by Jack's obedience and training. She was fast, she learned his step quickly and they were halfway t the spaceport when he felt someone on their trail.

"Sh." he said stopping as she melted into the wall. He watched two men walking towards the ship he had purchased and he cursed himself for not having his favorite weapon of choice, his two shivs. He had only a pulse weapon that would make too much noise.

A soft hand touched his in the darkness and he felt a familiar bone handled shiv and he turned and smiled an evil toothy grin. _That's my girl, thinking on your feet._

"Stay here. Don't move." He ordered and without question she obeyed.

He removed his disguise and walked towards the ship, never once glancing in her direction. He walked leisurely as if he were going to the ship to check on a few things. They had watched him earlier that night remove two bags and knew he would be coming back

He knew that these two men were there to see that he went on alone and he scanned the darkness for others. He didn't and smiled because this would be so easy.

"Can I help you fucks?" he asked standing at the ramp looking at them wanting to laugh.

"Faisal Mohammed wishes you to leave this place, while you still have use of your legs." The larger one said in a menacing tone.

"Really?" he said cocking his head. "And why is that?"

"You covet the Adeni. That is a mistake." The younger one said.

"_Really. _Tell you what. If you leave now, I won't kill you slowly, I'll just chase you for a few blocks then snap your necks. Hang around, and I'll take my time." He growled letting them see the beast.

Jack had known that Richard B. Riddick was a killer, but she had never, other than on T2, seen him kill. She wanted to shut her eyes, not to see the flurry of movement, the use of the shiv he had given her on T2 or the blood, and it was only when Riddick grabbed her arm did she realize she had not blinked once since the entire melee began.

_He killed them. He killed them. _She kept saying in her head. But she was alive and he had done it to save her.

"Jack. Open your eyes. They'll send more when they don't come back. MOVE-YOUR-ASS." He said in a low growl.


	15. Hello, says the beast

She hates you. She watched you gut those men. She can't even look at you. She hates you. She's see who you really are and she can't stand it.

But I did it to save her… "Riddick?" she says to me finally after we reach the cockpit.

She's in shock. Shit. I didn't want to have her see that. No one was keeping me from her. "Yeah kid?"

"Help me. My hands are shaking." She says and I can see she's shaking like a leaf. Fuck you're an animal.

I strap her in and touch her. Damn it! She flinched. "I.." I start to say. What the fuck am I gonna say, sorry you had to see that kid but you know me.

I kill people.

Fuck me.

"Thank you for rescuing me, again." she says once I put the ship into the deep black of space.

"You know what? I think you need a bath and sleep. I've got to set the course and I'll show you around." I'm an asshole. What the hell just tell her already.

"That would be nice." She says looking away. SHE HATES ME.

"Listen Jack, I'm not gonna apologize for killing those men. If it was a choice between you or them—they'd lose every time. You get that?" I say trying to make her understand.

"Yes." Is all she says and that one word kills me cause all I want to do is pick her up, take her to my bed and hold her tight.

I'm a sick fuck.


	16. Up, up and away

Riddick set the course for a system a week from Hellion Prime. He wanted to put foot to ass and get them as a far away from New Mecca as possible. Jack had fallen asleep in the co-pilot's chair and he stared at her for a long time before he decided to pick her up and carry her to the room he had prepared especially for her.

"Jack?" he whispered against her neck. She smiled. Maybe she didn't hate me after all, he thought to himself.

"Yeah?" she purred against his ear. His loins stiffed just hearing her speak. Restrained was definitely going to be a problem.

"You okay?" he asked tentatively.

"Mmm. Just had the most amazing dream." She sighed snuggling up against his chest.

He walked passed the med lab, and they gym when she told him. "I dreamed you saved me again."

XXX

"What else did you dream?" I ask as she arches against me trying to stretch.

I have never wanted to be naked more in my life.

Looking up at me she opens her eyes, winking. "Wouldn't you like to know you deviant."

If those nipples are any indication. DAMN.

Putting her down now that she's awake. I'm unsure so I ask, "You okay? Really?"

I feel bad about her seeing my darker side.

"Really Riddick. I'm not a child. I know when it's for business and when it's for pleasure." She smirks. "So, you said something about a bath and a tour. Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise. First. Since you're the first person on this ship besides me, I think we could use a drink. We've gotta job over in the Valyin system in about a week until then, you and me are gonna unwind. No more veils, no more yes, sir, no sir, just relaxing. I think you're due after what I had to watch. Come on kid, let's go."

She's impressed. I can't help be smug. I worked shitty jobs to pay for it, knowing I was gonna come back and get her. "What's her name?" she asks me.

"This week, the phoenix." I tell her and she smiles.

"Rises from the ashes. And I thought I was through with you being sentimental." She says in a mock sigh. "You're serious?"

"Yup, I've had her about a year." I explain as we walk around for a while. I stop because I want to see her smile again and I know this will do it. "Thought you'd like this. Its a nice outlet for that I seem to keep pent up. This gym has everything I wanted. It's worth every penny. This ships got a new engine, new med lab, I wanted to never have to worry again. I wanted to be free, and feel like I am."

"So we can kick each others asses in here?" she says to me giving me a look.

"You can try princess." I smirk. It's so good to see her smile I just couldn't help myself.

"Excellent. Can you rig it to play music?" then I show her the panel where she could put her discs. I can see she's got some ideas, and I'm not complaining. She's here and safe with me, so its all good.

"Hungry?" I ask. "Let's get something to eat. The food they served tasted like shit."

"That was kind of the point Riddick. I wasn't going to make them something they would enjoy." She says rolling her eyes. I just shake my head and walk on by.

The kitchen is fully stocked and we're full of fuel. I want nothing more than to be with her, she deserves a bit of peace, and I need to feel like I haven't failed her. She deserves to be free, and I think we're both due some down time. "What do you feel like?"

"Now that's a loaded question Riddick." Damn I walked into that one.

"What do you want Jack?" I ask and she coughs, I must be tired or something cause she's nailing me left and right.

"Jack," I say through my teeth as she leers at me, almost laughing. "What would you like to drink?"

"A cold beer." She says exasperated. "Imam is so strict I'd kill for a cold beer. The last one was warm and I had to sneak it."

I open the cooler and hand her one and take one for myself. I watch the look of satisfaction on her face after she takes a good long swig. "God I needed that." She sighs.

_I can think of several other things you need…_the beast growls within me.

She smiles cause she knows me so well already, even after all this time.

"Perv."

"Me, never. I'm the perfect gentleman." I affirm.

"Right. That twitch in your jaw hasn't changed one bit." Busted, Shit.

"Go to bed Jack. I'll see you in the morning." I command. "Sleep."

"Thank you Riddick, for saving me again. I'll love you forever for it." she says into my ear and I swear I can hear my heart slamming inside my chest.

Then she kisses my cheek. "Good night. Rest if you can." She whispers and I can't help but think it's gonna be a long while before that happens.


	17. Dancing Jack

What the fuck! Who the fuck is playing that shit so god damn loud? I just fell asleep and now I've got that shit slamming against the insides of my brain. JACK!

Putting my clothes back on I notice that the lights are on in the gym. Figures that Jack couldn't wait to try out the sound system. Mmm., I can smell you kid. Having a good time are we?

I put my goggles on and walk down the hallway quietly. I'm kinda liking the whole voyeur thing and so far it's keeping me out of trouble. So far…

Who the hell is singing? I'll give her that, it's got a beat that I like. I'll have to see about getting her to lend it to me.

HOLY SHIT…

* * *

In the darkness, he heard a male singer accompanying a heavy melodic beat. The words hit his brain just as the images of Jack hit his goggled eyes. 

The combination crushed whatever resistance he thought of employing. In the darkness, he leaned against the bulkhead holding on for dear life.

You fell away, what more can I say?

The feelings evolved I won't let them out.

I can't replace your screaming face.

Feeling the sickness inside.

When he forced his eyes to open again he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Jack wore a long flowing skirt that sat very low on her hips. She wore her hair down, as she swayed to the music, a tight fitting shirt with a low scoop neck that rested just above her belly button, exposing her hips and stomach to his eyes while accentuating her breasts perfectly.

_Holy fuck Jack._ The sweat began to form on his forehead. He watched her hips undulate as the singer belted out his mantra.

He was immediately aroused, desperate to get her in his arms. _Go get her now, she's tasty, Don't be a pussy dickey boy._

_Shut it. That's Jack. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, the square route of 4 is 2._

_Fuck… Stop dancing Jack. Come on…_

But he couldn't stop watching. In either arm she were bracelets that moved with the music. From his vantage point, he saw the tattoo, the skin and the sounds of the music in his ears. Her delicate hands were moving like a snake around her body and face as her hips rolled and moved along with the music, slow and seductively.

He couldn't even form a thought, but listened to the music instead and watched her. She was lost in the music, and he couldn't pull himself away, hypnotized by the pulsing beat and by her swaying hips and lithe body moving in tandem to the screaming words in his ear.

Why won't you die?

Your blood in mine.

We'll be fine

Then your body will be mine.

Her eyes were closed and he could see her in the mirror. She was completely unrestrained. The animal was in control _that's it baby, you go, let it go, I won't stop you._

He'd never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

He listened to the chorus and watched her teasing her imaginary lover. _So that's the dancing you were taught. _His inner beast was howling against his chest wanting her as his next meal. He could smell her, and all he felt was the thudding in his chest and the pain of his rock hard arousal. She was definitely and Adeni.

_Oh yeah._

Why is everything so fucking hard for me?

Keep me down to what you think I should be

Must you tempt me and provoke the ministry?

Keep on trying I'm not dying so easily.

(I will not die.)

It crooned again and again… He watched her closed eyes turn towards him and crook her finger for him to come and he grasped the bulkhead with every ounce of strength he had.

DOWN BOY. His rational self screamed, but the beast inside had other ideas and it took all the restraint to stay away. And the ache he felt inside was burning as hot as the sweat that covered her body. _And I thought the lap dance the other night was good. _

Then she dropped on all fours and whipped her head back crawling like an animal towards him.

He growled and licked his lips in anticipation.

Why is everything so fucking hard for me?

Why won't you die?

Your blood in mine.

We'll be fine

Then your body will be mine.

The music ended and another song came on where she started to puck up her things and put her sweater back on. He moved quickly, panting heavily out of the hallway and away from getting caught.

But not quickly enough because as he looked back up, she was staring at him, eyes heavy lidded and primal… the horror of being caught on her face.


	18. Good golly Miss Molly

When she found him, he was in the mess making himself some strong coffee. He was still trying to calm himself but when his eyes would shut all he would see would be her. "Hey." She said avoiding his eyes.

"Hey." He said back to her. He wasn't able to look at her either. Between the naked visual of her and the wanton visual, he had a hard time looking at her without wanting to pounce her.

"Great sound system. I'm gonna use that a lot. I never got to hear that song out loud. It was exactly what I needed to work out to. You should try it. Music its said soothes the savage beast." She said trying to not sound nervous as she took a bite of sausage.

_Or riles one up._ He thought.

"Sure, one of these days I just might do that." He said looking at her in her deep blue skirt and shirt. "Are you gonna wear that frumpy shit all the time?"

"Don't have much else. Why?" she smirked, "Should I go naked?"

He spat out his coffee at her comment. She giggled, asking "Are you okay?"

"Jack!" he growled knowing she did that on purpose.

"Riddick!" she growled right back just as loudly. She was grinning at him and stuck her tongue out for emphasis.

"Get to your room." He ordered as he attempted to finish his breakfast. Damn if she wasn't testing him already.

"Or what?" she asked mischievously.

He stood slowly, her gaze never leaving him. He lifted his cup to his lips and drank the remainder of the contents. Then he placed it back down and slowly, cocked his head in her direction. "Oh shit." She exclaimed and ran.

He followed removing his goggles and growling, "Lights off."

And then the entire ship was plunged into darkness. "Shit, shit." She kept saying.

"JACK! Get your ass moving…. In-that-room!" he ordered his voice booming echoes all around the ship.


	19. Hide and go seek, Riddick style

She's gonna get it for making me spit scalding hot coffee on myself.

_Go dickey boy, give her the animal. She's not afraid. She's excited, can't you smell her?_

"Jack?" I say seeing her feeling along the wall. I follow, slow and deliberate letting her believe that she's gonna make it. Her room is only a few feet away. She knows that. But I'm quick and she's not as quick as me.

"Oh Jack!" I sing. "I can smell you kid, you can't hide from me. I'm gonna GET you."

I hear her laughing. She's having as much fun as I am. GOOD, let the animal out for a while, you need the release.

"Go away Riddick." She says as her hands are frantically feeling for a door. The predator in me is loving this. Fear, anticipation, the thrill of the hunt. It's all good.

"Where ya gonna go Jack? I'm already here." I growl grabbing her by the waist and hoisting her over my shoulder.

She laughs and its the best sound I've heard in a very long time. "Bad girl. Someone should teach you manners." I tell her smacking her ass for good measure.

"Put me down you big jerk." She says oh so proper. Let it out Jack I can take it.

"No." I say in a low menacing voice. "You burned me."

"In my defense, you burned yourself." That got her another smack.

"Ow! Stop that you asshole." Better Jack, but not good enough, let it all out. I dare you.

"You made me spit it out." I tell her smiling. I love getting her going. I take my hand, rub that perfect cheek and she knows what's coming. I can feel her breathing stop.

"Don't you dare Riddick." She demands squirming. Not a chance kiddo. This is too much fun.

Smack

"You FUCK!" she screams, and I have won.

I'm laughing hard. It's been a while. "See that wasn't so hard." She's out of breath from crying she laughed so hard. She's still rubbing her ass and I'm hysterical. "Gotta cut loose sometimes princess. Lights, twenty percent." She's heaving, flush and excited.

"That was fun. Wanna play later?" she asks me with a glint in her eye.

Now that's another loaded question. "Well, that depends, are you gonna dance for me too?" I just couldn't resist.

The look on her face is priceless. I'm so good. She's wondering how much I saw.

_All of it baby._

"You shit! OH MY GOD!" she shrieks and I take my goggles and put them on the ledge.

She takes off and I'm right on her tail, growling. "Lights off." I shout, playtime again and its so much fun.

XXX

Riddick followed her in the darkness stalking her quietly, enjoying himself like he'd never in his whole adult life. "Jack?" he crooned as she giggled. This went on for an hour until he found her back in them mess, sitting as proper as you please.

His chest was heaving from the run and she sat smiling. "Still hungry?" she asked looking at his plate.

"Oh yeah, kid, starving."

"I'll get more coffee." She replied and he closed his eyes because playtime was over and she'd gone inward again.

_Damn_.


	20. Riddick and the temptress

I'm sitting in the mess, drinking coffee and trying not to stare. It's hard because she's sitting right next to me. "Riddick, is there something on your mind?" she asks.

Is there? No…back off, she's off limits and you need to remember that.

"No, just enjoying the company." I say staring straight ahead. Man, when we got off T2 I didn't have this problem. When we got off that rock she didn't look like _that._

She's brushing her hair, after we just spent the last two hours running around like kids. Wait a minute, she still is one.

_No she's not._

"Say something." She asks. Like what? You're gorgeous, we're alone on this ship for the foreseeable future, and I'm not trying to take you over my shoulder and fuck the shit out of you. Right….

I'm trying to keep my hands to myself. But that ass was just too much and I had to go and smack it, repeatedly.

"So, you liked the sound system." I ask, now that's a fair question. A very safe question.

"It was awesome. I like it, got a great workout from being able to move without worrying my head set would come off." She tells me. Yeah did you ever and now I get to take about four cold showers just to calm my ass down.

"I'm glad. I liked the music." Okay, that's also safe.

"It's from a cinematic back in the twentieth on Earth. Queen of the Damned. It's called System. I love it. It's so…" she blushes. Yeah Jack, I know just what you mean. It's the kind of song that gets your rocks started.

"I like it. It has a good beat. It's real good _mood_ music." I smirk. I couldn't help it.

She laughs and puts her hand on my arm. "Real good 'mood' music? Yeah, that's what I'd call it. I like it. There are a few others, a bit darker but it brings the animal out in me and I like it when it does."

I have to admit it, she's right. When her animal comes around boy I'm ready to play too. "Jack. Don't play that again when I'm trying to sleep. It's distracting."

The look on her face isn't good. Shit. "I-I'm sorry. I was just dying to try it out with that 'dancing' I told you about. They make us listen to some crap and think that's what will entice a man into bed. They made us practice it forever. I just thought I'd do it my own way."

_I remember kid. _

At this point, all I can remember is her hips, those hand and her body moving slowly and seductively with the look of pure animal on her face.

I'm needing to put my head down.

"Riddick. I'm so sorry. I forgot. I need to stop this. I'm sorry." She tells me and gets up to leave. I can't let her do that. She needs to know she can be herself and not have to worry about me.

I want her to act like she wants not how they conditioned her to.

"Jack, stop it. Listen. Let me tell you something." And I put my hand out to stop her and lift my head doing some serious deep breathing. "Any woman I have ever been around, I paid for. I was just surprised that's all. I don't want you to think that you can't do anything you want on this ship, or around me. It's just us. No secrets. Right?"

She blushes and its so cute. "I usually have to pay for something like that, and that show, princess, was for free." I smirk.

"So you liked it?" she asks me. What a fucken question Jack…

"Let me preface this next sentence with a warning. Tell me before you want to practice again. I need to be doing something else so I don't well, just remind me."

That came out completely fucked.

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Do you see me getting up any time soon?" I growl still looking at the floor. "I'm gonna need a cold shower, but I'm fine, really."

She laughs, making me laugh and we're back to being Jack and Riddick the killer. Normal.

"Riddick? I didn't know you even noticed. I mean, "she starts and bats her eyes. So like a woman. "I always thought you saw me like I was."

Skinny and twelve, not a chance princess.

"No, I don't think so." The thoughts running through my mind are fast, and very graphic, so that would be a definite no.

Then she leans on her elbows and smiles, like she's cooking something in that brain. _Jack, don't play. I can be a whole lot of trouble. _"I'm glad it worked to _some_ degree, we never were able to try it out on any men before. On a scale of 1 to 10 what would you rate me?"

She did _not_ just ask me that.

"Go to bed Jack." I growl, louder than I wanted to.

"I take that as a sign that you approve?" she smirks, "Bet you got all hot and bothered, hard and needing—"

"Jack. I'm warning you. I have my limits. Be good."

"Yes dear, if I _have_ to." She answers in a mock pout. "I'm going to bed. All that dancing got me tired. See you in a few hours, Mr. Carmichael." She says and kisses my cheek.

Was that a hint? I'm too tired to notice, but that kiss was sweet and I could get used to that. Hell, I could get used to a lot of things.


	21. Nightmares to make you scream by

"No!!!!!" shattered the silence of the night and Riddick was running towards the bowels of the ship looking for Jack. Her high pitched screams echoed through the entire emptiness of each corridor like a siren. The fear and terror in those screams tore at him as he frantically looked for her.

"RIDDICK!!!"

He stopped by her bed, empty. Then the ship's hold, nothing. Then the med lab, dark and empty too.

"NO!!!!!"

He stopped by his own room, undisturbed.

"JACK!" he shouted again and again. W_here the fuck was she?_

Breathless, he arrived at the gym, where she'd been hours earlier dancing so erotically that all the time he spent in the pilot's chair he'd fantasized about her doing that for him.

Shrouded in darkness he found her in the corner, some equipment having fallen down. She'd gotten to the weapons cabinet but was pinned onto the floor. His mind was propelled back to T2 when the creatures had pinned her underneath the skeleton of one of their dead. She was terrified then, and it was no different now. She only needed to wake up, then it would be over.

"Jack." he said approaching. He pulled off the heavy equipment and tried to touch her. Then in a quick and deadly move she came out of the mass of over turned pads and weights with a shiv in her hand, trying to kill those deadly creatures herself.

He barely missed taking a slice to the chest. Damn she was fast. He thought. "JACK!" he boomed and her eyes fluttered open and she collapsed on the floor in a heap, crying.

"Jack." He said softer, tenderly and calming as he moved slowly to take it out of her hand. "Hey, it's just a dream."

She didn't speak, nor did she move. She just looked like she did when they flew off the planet and she had awoke from the dreams, frightened, confused and feeling very alone. He pulled her into his lap and rocked her, like he did back then. "Sh. It's okay Jack. It's just a dream."

Her racking sobs, now just a sniffle caused him to wince. He knew that fear, the one that crept on you when you least expected it. "Hey, let's get you back to bed."

"Riddick?" she asked as he effortlessly lifted her from off the floor.

"Yeah kid?" he answered walking in the darkness.

"Does it ever stop?" she whispered and the soft breath on her neck made the goose flesh rise on his arms.

"No, but it doesn't hurt as much. You get tough." He told her. "Li-"

"No lights. I like the dark. I'm okay with the dark." She told him.

"Jack you're safe. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I made that promise, and I never promise. You got that?"

"Yes sir." She said saluting. "You make me feel safe. You always have. Even when they made me feel like a whore, made me feel worthless, I knew you knew me better. I'm glad you're my friend." She told him and his heart was suddenly very full.

"That Jack, is about the nicest compliment I've ever heard. You are no whore, and anyone who says so had to deal with me. A tease, absolutely. Adeni, well, I'd not go that far…Now get under the covers and get back to sleep. I'm gonna turn in too. We've got no plans, so let's take advantage of the quiet."

"You might wanna be careful calling me Adeni. It means seductress." She said as he pulled up the blanket. "You might just find yourself in trouble then."

He walked out muttering, "I'm already in trouble Jack." Which only made her smile.

An hour later, she was shivering in the dark again, imaginary creatures trying to kill her. She rose, still clad in her nightgown, a cotton one clean and virginal, and padded towards Riddick's room.

"Riddick?" she whispered but all she heard was his steady breathing. "Shit." she said just as quietly. She remembered back to the days after T2 and how he would let her sleep near him, how it calmed her. She was much younger then, and now was very different.

Slipping next to him, she watched him sigh. She laid her head down and tried to focus on his breathing, which never failed to allow her to drift off to sleep. His scent hadn't changed and she found the combination, oddly stirring. But being so exhausted, she was asleep in a matter of moments.

In the darkness, he had heard her approach. _You're playing with fire dickey boy, _his beast growled. But he knew her well enough to understand how this all frightened her. Pretending to sleep, he heard her call his name. He half expected her to return to her own bed, but secretly hoped she wouldn't. When he felt the bed shift and her body settle in next to him he smiled, opening his eyes. _Jack you are so beautiful, if I could only deserve you._

He touched her hair, feeling how soft it was and sighed. Smelling it, he thought of Jasmine. She began to mutter, agitating again and he pulled her close to him. His low breathing and presence immediately calmed her.

Both safe, and at peace, he fell back asleep vaguely aware he was completely naked underneath the sheet.


	22. Long list of skills

Jack found Riddick underneath the console of the refrigeration unit several hours later. She hadn't remembered getting up and going to his bed but she found that she like it there. His embrace gave her the security that she'd needed and she wondered how long it would be before he realized it too.

"Riddick?" What some coffee?" she asked holding a cup for herself.

"Sure. Can you cook?" he asked pulling out from underneath. He was filthy. She loved it.

"Yes, we are all taught to cook, clean and be obedient, oh the obedient part I seemed to always have a problem with. That was a killer. We were instructed on _all_ the attributes of a good wife." She smirked. "Hungry?"

"Starving. So," he asked suggestively, "what _other_ wifely things did you learn? I mean, since you've saddled me with being married, I'm gonna need to know what I'm in for."

"We learned to…Let's see," she started as she handed him a rag to wipe his face, "kiss our husbands good morning and good night. Just like this."

She leaned over, touched his arm and placed a very chaste kiss on his cheek. "Good morning Riddick. What would you like for breakfast? Yes, we have to say it just like that, oh, and smile."

Then she grinned broadly, comical and put on.

He felt her warm lips against his face and he liked it. "New rule. I want a kiss good morning and good night. I like that." He said walking towards the sink to wash up. "And, I'd like eggs, sausage and coffee. Something warm."

"You had something warm but you got up." She said her hand flying up to her face. "I shouldn't have said that."

His face was a mask of composure but inside he was wanting to take her by the waist and show her that he didn't want to get up.

"I didn't hear you properly, did I?" he purred getting in her face.

"Moving on. Next," she said putting his breakfast into the food prep. "we are to make our husbands feel comfortable by making sure they're relaxed."

She escorted him to his chair and he arched an eyebrow, "Get your mind out of the gutter Riddick. This is not about sex. Everything does not revolve around it."

"Says you." he smirked.

"Can I get back to what I was talking about?" she said standing before him with her arms crossed.

"Yes, the long list, right." He said looking at her hips.

He sat down and watched her pour him a cup of coffee. "Then we are to see to our husband's need to relax." She placed her hands, warm and soft against his shoulders and he jumped completely surprised by her touch. "Tense is bad. Ziza said that most husbands of the women in her family get into trouble if their spouses are tense and uncomfortable. She demanded that we learn to ease that problem like this."

Her hands started just behind his brain stem and worked their way down to his shoulders. "Have you ever had a massage before Riddick?"

"Uh, once, a long, uh, time, damn Jack, ago." he stammered moaning between words. "God Jack, this feels fucking amazing. New rule, do this, often."

"What's with you and the rules?" she quipped in his ear and he growled as her fingers ran down to his collarbone.

"Figured you'd like them, feel more like… Mmm. Jack…" he purred as his eyes closed again. "You're not being fair."

"And how is that Riddick?" she smiled.

"This is addictive and you know it." he said feeling her breasts against his back as she ran her fingers over his shoulders and neck.

"Yes, and it is yet another reason why I'm so expensive." She smirked. "Your breakfast is getting cold."

"It can wait." He said lolling his head forward. _Just do this more._

"Moving on." She said lifting her hands away to his growl of disapproval. "Next," she said handing him his plate of hot food," We are never to eat with our husbands. Women eat with the women and the men are served while we wait."

"Jack, that shit is **not** happening with us." He snapped, taking a sausage link and handing it to her. It made her smile that he was so adamant.

"Good." She said taking a bite and watching him stare. "Look much?"

He looked back down and continued to eat. "Next are the rules regarding," she said waiting just long enough for him to take a sip of coffee. "sex."

He sprayed it across the table and she pretended not to notice. "Sorry, forgot that is a taboo subject, moving on."

"Wait," he said wiping her face and glaring at her. "I can talk about sex. I gotta hear what fucked up rules they have for that." He said leaning back against the chair and pointing to his neck. "Woman, back to those shoulders."

She rose obediently and said in a whisper, "Yes my lord. That's what we're to say when ordered to do something. It shows our obedience."

"Ziza told you this?" he asked moaning at her nimble fingers.

"That and more. Not only did we learn early on how to clean, cook and behave, but how to please a man. All these things will be expected when married to the men in her family. We were taught to entice our husband, then when we reached the age of maturity, we were taught to facilitate our husband's pleasure."

"Like how…ouch." He growled looking up at her. "I'm oh-so-curious now princess. You had classes…on sex and how to…How fucked up is that?"

She ignored him and began working on the knot between his shoulder blades then moved upward.

"First we were taught to dance, which you had a sneak preview of earlier. You pervert…The dance, would be done with the man watching, so that he could see what he was going to…well you get the picture."

"Yeah I do." He growled as she started to massage his temples. "Jack, you kicked ass at this too?"

"Everything but obedience, my lord." she smirked whispering it in his ear for emphasis. His growl was satisfaction enough. "My dancing was the first in a long list of reasons why I was so ridiculed. It's not my fault I did _it_ better than the most passionate of the Mohammedan women."

"I have to agree, Jack, you're _very_ good." He said closing his eyes again remembering how she looked moving to the music and how it was pulling all rational thought from his head. "Bet that chaffed their asses didn't it?"

He leaned up and looked at her. She was smiling a wicked smug smile. "Thought so. What else did those women say? After the dancing, then what?"

"As wives we were expected to, hey this is a nice knot you have there." She said working on it causing him to growl, angrily. "Take your shirt off, this will be easier if you do."

He debated that. _Do it, she's asking for it._ his beast growled. He relented, her fingers were warm and firm and he couldn't get enough of her touching him. "Jack, be good."

"I have to, don't I?" she asked smirking at him. _No you don't but I do._

"Now," she said her voice a little higher than she wanted. He knew it was because she saw him without his shirt. She cleared her throat which made him smile, "Ziza, gave us instructions on how we need to be in the presence of our husbands when he would 'avail himself of his right to'…"

XXX

"Wait let me guess," I say shaking my head. Man her hands are magic. "Flat on your back."

"No, not quite. Flat on our back, our heads turned away from his, and our veil covering our face." She corrects me.

You've got to be fucken kidding me. "No shit?"

"Nope, it gets worse. While _we _are pleasuring them, we cannot seek our own fulfillment. It shames the man. His needs are more important."

Now that is just plain wrong. Half the fun is making the woman scream and squirm. I'm speechless. Cause anything I say _is_ going to get me into trouble.

"Next," she says sitting down and handing me my shirt. "we learned kissing."

"Really?" Now I'm interested in how that happened since she wasn't allowed around any men.

"Put your shirt on, it's distracting." She asks looking away.

"Now, why is that? It's just me Jack and in my defense, you told me to take it off." I say, I just had to start fucking with her again.

"Riddick. Rules can go both ways…" she smirks. Oh is that so?

"Deal with it." I growl, go there, I dare you.

"Fine. Kissing then. We were instructed on the two types of kisses, one to display affection, and the other to indicate our desire (not that we were allowed to show any) to have relations."

I _have_ to know the difference… "How did you learn this?"

"You know…" she says shy all of a sudden, "Christ, we learned by kissing each other. Let me tell you it isn't very satisfying, not that I have anything to compare it to. Yes Riddick she made us kiss each other, eyes back in your head."

I can't help that. Jack kissing another woman. Now, I'd definitely pay to see that.

"Then we went on to mechanics. I was really not wanting to deal with that. I got books on it. Ziza made everything about the man and nothing about how good the woman could feel. Apparently its all very straight forward." She says and we're both laughing hard. "No pun intended, well maybe I did intend that."

I go and get her a cup of coffee and notice she's really shy and inward all of a sudden. How did I miss that?

"Hey, we can stop if you're uncomfortable." I suggest.

"Ziza would tell me, that I wasn't worthy to be a wife, that as an Adeni, I was a whore and should be treated like one. That I would be passed between the men and should be grateful to be in the harem. I'm no whore Riddick."

"You need to stop worrying about that old bitch." I tell her. She's next on my fucken list.

"It gets worse. Hey, you wanted to know everything. I found out on the wedding night that the brides, and there could be several, are usually drugged. It's so we won't fight back. That's why I started training. I won't let them make me lay there and let anyone spread me and hurt me."

She notices my hands fisting on the table and my jaw clenching cause I can't help the fact that what she tells me makes me want to be very violent.

"I prayed to Imam's god that you'd come and save me. Take me away and keep me safe."

I look up astounded by what she's saying. "And he did."

I put my hand on hers and she's shaking a little. What images she's had to endure, the abuse, it's been so bad and I feel terrible about leaving her. "You won't ever have to deal with them again. We can find ourselves a place and live where they'll never find us. Was it that bitch that always "instructed" you? Imam said she was evil."

"Yeah. She thought she so _fucken_ important. She couldn't get laid in a slam if her life depended upon it. Shriveled up twat couldn't give good head if a gun was to hers." She shouts her hand flying up to her mouth; she's freaking out now and all I can do is smile.

"Hang around me kid and you'll sound like me before long." I say laughing.

But her face is very serious. "We don't matter. That's all I ever fucking heard. Deep inside I know it's bullshit, but it was so hard. I feel just like you." she says sitting down putting her hand on my bare chest. "You have a heart that beats just like mine. It rages and calms, just like mine. How could they think we couldn't matter?"

"You feel nothing like me Jack. I'm primal, not soft like you." I say to her as I get up and get more coffee. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, the square route of 4 is 2.

"No Riddick, that's where you're wrong, I am just like you." I hear and when I turn around she was gone.


	23. Happy Birthday Jack

For the next few nights, Jack snuck into Riddick's room. Anticipating this, he began to wear sweats to bed. Each morning, she gave him a kiss on the cheek, and each night one as well. It had become their ritual.

But every morning, when she awoke, he was gone. He was always somewhere on the ship, busy at work.

After dinner one evening, Jack had cleaned up and gone to find out where her partner had gone. He must have been somewhere fixing something, like he did so much. It was like he was avoiding her.

Inside the mess, she sat on the couch in front of the large vid screen and was going to put on a classic disc, when Riddick walked in, dressed in slacks and a white silk shirt. "Wow, what's the occasion? Got a hot date?" she snapped smoothing out the colored skirt she wore. She put her bare feet on the coffee table and put her hands in her lap.

Riddick sat beside her and put down a bottle, two shot glasses and a box. She looked up and noticed that he had put in his contact lenses and she notice right away his efforts and smiled. "Happy Birthday."

"Well fuck me." she gasped. "You clean up nice. I wasn't sure the color of the contacts. Did I get them right?"

"Yeah. It's weird to see all this light and not be in excruciating pain. Thanks." He straightened himself up and cleared his throat. "I don't sing, and there's no cake but I got you this because every girl should have something nice on her birthday."

Pouring the amber fluid into each of the shot glasses, he watched as her eyes danced along the box. It was slender and resembled something small. When she opened it, it was a necklace, with dark red stones and deep intricate designs. Her eyes flooded with tears. He hadn't forgotten about her. She put it down and hurled herself at him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, it's beautiful."

"I thought about it when I saw you the first night. And when I know that I was not leaving New Mecca without you, I made sure that I didn't forget it. Now," he said handing her a glass, "that you're officially an adult," he said in the low growl that she loved, "there are some things that have been forbidden that you now may feel free to engage in. Like alcohol… This is Valysian fire whiskey, very smooth. Here take your shot and be a big girl. Do it, like this."

He took the fluid, brought it to his lips and downed it slamming the glass against the table.

"Is the whole smacking the glass down part of it?" she asked smiling at him as she watched the alcohol work through him.

"Absolutely." He crooned closing his eyes for a moment and then pouring himself another.

"Is the auto pilot on Riddick?" she laughed.

"Yes, princess we're all right, now drink there, you." he said downing his second and smiling.

"Okay, but I'm warning you. I will not be responsible for my actions if you get me drunk there, Master of all you survey."

He laughed, a delightfully unrestrained laugh that she smiled at. "So noted Jack, now drink." He ordered.

XXX

She lifts the glass to her lips and I can't wait to see her face. The first time I drank this, I wasn't expecting the kick and coughed for a good ten minutes.

One.

Two.

Three.

I cannot believe it. She closes her eyes, downs the shot, and might I add with an expertise I am not expecting, and slams the glass on the table.

"WAHOO. That was great!"

I'm expecting the coughing, the wheezing, but nothing… "Oh," she says smugly, "I'm sorry. Was something supposed to happen? Did I tell you, that in my disobedient phase I had much worse? Pour me another there you." She says licking the glass clean.

_Damn, Jack, color me fucked now. That tongue is gonna kill me._

"What other little secrets are you keeping from me?" I say challenging her.

"Shut up and pour. I have plenty, and they're all wicked." She says and there folks, is the alcohol starting to work like truth serum.

"How wicked?" I ask taking another shot. Five is my limit and she's half my weight and going on her second.

"Incredibly wicked, and wouldn't you like to now just how?" she sneers taking the other shot and tossing it back like a pro.

"I'm done for now. Any more and you'll be picking me up off the floor. Thank God we ate. That's fine whiskey Riddick."

That would be fun to watch. Jack, drunk. Hey wait, I need to think straight here.

"Another shot, there Riddick?" she says as I take one and toss it back. "Feeling a little…"

"I'm a perfect gentleman." I lie sitting back on the couch feeling unusually good. Damn that's a fine ass Jack, even if you're hiding it under that skirt.

"Right, like I want to believe that. Where's the fun in that?" she says smiling like I would in the same position. The whiskey is good and I'm feeling very relaxed. I've not been able to let my guard down in a long time and it's very liberating. "So Jack, tell me what secrets you have locked up in that little brain of yours."

I'm tapping her forehead and she's laughing. "I'll have you know, that my brain is very developed." She says putting her bare feet on my lap.

She looks quite sober, except for the flush of her cheeks which I am compelled to stare at. "I look different, don't I?" she asks. Oh yeah, different.

She's wearing her hair back, and it looks sorta nice. Okay, my brain is feeling a little numb but that's actually good. That white shirt she's got on is tight and I'm staring, I can't seem to help that. I nod, because its hard to form a thought just now.

"Riddick? Hello???" she says and I'm doing my best to shake the buzz out of my brain.

"Right." Is all I'm capable of saying.

"I have a game." She says and I perk up. Games are good. "It's an old Earth drinking game. It's called Truth or Dare. You can pick either, but once you pick there's no backing down. Are you game, or are you chicken?" she asks and within about a second she's pinned on the couch.

"I have never backed down from a challenge kid. Start, it's your birthday." I say and smile, inhaling that jasmine and vanilla.

"Then big guy, you'll need to get off me." she coughs and I realize she's pinned on the couch by my hips and arms. How did I do that and not notice?

"Sorry." I say trying not to look like an asshole.

"No problem, king of the beasts. Keep it in your pants." She smirks looking right at my trousers. Hey, that's no fair.

"What do I do?" I ask trying to stay the gentleman. I stress trying cause I'm not really that good at self control now.

"You ask me to take either a truth, which means I have to answer ANY question you ask, or a dare, which means I have to do something."

She's steadying herself and I smile. The fun is starting and the beast within me growls. Her skirt is long and that shirt is skin tight. All I seem to be able to do is stare at her breasts. But to keep my hands off her, I say "Truth or dare? Choose Jack, knower of all things wifely and wicked."

She's laughing now and I think the whiskey has really began to make me a little drunk, but this is good. I need the feel of a good buzz. "Truth, ask away kidnapper of all things naughty."

We laugh again. This is fun, but also dangerous. It could lead to things I need to stay focused.

Who am I kidding, and down goes another shot. "What is the most sexual dream you've ever had that left you with soaked panties and the need of a good long fuck?"

Oh shit, did I just say that out loud?

We're laughing again. Damn this feels good. "Five is your limit and isn't that number four?"

"Talk you." I order.

"Are you sure you can handle it? I mean you're only human." She says leaning in. "I'm standing in my shower, and he comes up behind me. He takes his hands and runs them across my breasts and down to here."

Don't show me Jack, I'm not really able to handle the visual. My eyes are closed you, but keep talking. "Then his hand finds my sweet spot and he takes his fingers, finding me slick and wet. He starts rubbing his hot cock against the cheeks of my ass and sticks it deep and so fast I gasp. Riddick?"

"Hmm." I say cause coherent thought is gone from my brain, the mental image is a bit much and I can't think. What's worse is I'm hard as a rock.

"You're drooling."

"Bull shit. I'm not drooling." 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, the square route of 4 is 2.

I'm looking at her right now and I'm gonna kick her ass. She knows its been a good long while and that image isn't one I can just throw out of my brain. She's giggling. She knows what she just did.

"Okay, you're turn big guy." She smirks. "I held up my end of the bargain. Choose wisely, your well on your way to drunk. And you know what they say. A drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts."

She did _not _just say that shit to me.

"I can hold my liquor Jack. I've been doing it a lot longer than you. You just distracted me princess. Truth, I have no secrets from you."

She looks at me and I can see that disobedient gleam I her eye. "Have you ever been in love?"

"Yes." I growl, and she's wondering who it is. Sorry kid, no dice. "You're turn Adeni. Truth or dare."

"Dare, my lord." she mocks. "Do your worst Riddick." she says running her fingers through her hair and cracking her neck. "I'm ready."

But am I? Now that's a good question.

"Show me how the women taught you to kiss. I've been sooo curious since our last conversation."

"I could be mean and ask which kiss you're referring to but I have an idea." She says smiling. Oh, you're good kid, I could have lost out on that one there.

She gets up and smiles. And I realize, I'm in big trouble.

XXX

Jack was fully prepared for this. She actually hoped he'd cave in and ask. If not, she would have figured out how to get him in just such a position.

He looked incredibly hot in the clothes he wore for her. And he had put in the contacts just to please her. The necklace around her neck was beautiful and she felt it as she bit her lip.

He was grinning at her like a fool. "Ah, what's a matter princess, can't take the heat? It's put up or shut up time."

"Take out your lenses stud. Lights, ten percent." She said walking around the couch. "I want to see your eyes, they are the mirror to the soul."

_Oh shit, _he thought looking at her warily. He was losing control of this fast. He removed his contacts and placed them in the case on the table.

"Am I gonna get a lap dance too?" he asked smug.

"A kiss was all the dare was. Be quiet you." she admonished in mock anger.

She walked to stand in front of him. On the couch he sat back feeling comfortable. "Move please. Towards the middle. You see, the women were quite fascinated by the fact that I was such a good student, in everything. Funny," she said straddling his hips, "that I masqueraded as a boy for so long." And finished by adjusting her skirt to fan around her.

He growled when she settled on his lap. "You dared me and I'm going to show you why Faisal Mohammed will send mercs to bring me back." She told him as she adjusted her skirt to show a little of her leg.

_God I can feel those panties. FUCK Jack._

"You okay in there?" she asked smug.

"Do your worst Adeni." He quipped smiling inside and out.

She cupped his face with one hand, stroking it tenderly as her fingers moved from his cheek to the nape of his neck while the other hand caressed his scalp. Even before her lips moved to touch him he sighed with pleasure. She moved her hands underneath his collar, to his neck and Adam's apple. His low growl gave her a power she wanted to exploit. She had him right where she wanted him.

"Jack?" he purred under her touch, "This might not be such a good idea…"

"A dare is a dare Riddick." she smiled softly in his ear. She realized his hands had wandered and were clutching her thighs. "Now, shut up and take your medicine. This was your dare."

He groaned quietly.

She softly kissed his forehead, lingering a moment to gauge his reaction. He sighed at the touch of her lips. She moved to each eye. "Such beautiful eyes, I've always been drawn to them, especially in the dark." He purred like a big cat and she was feeling very, very good. "This is why," she said as she nipped at his earlobe, "they hate me."

Her lips touched his playfully at first. It was a chaste soft meeting and she bit his lower lip to encourage him. The first thing she noticed was that his male scent was so intoxicating that she couldn't help but continue after the first brush against his lips. He responded to her silent request and she coaxed his mouth open and tasted whiskey.

_Not bad, definitely different than girls. _She thought as his hands caressed her thighs.

As she kissed him, touching his tongue with hers playfully, a whimper escaped her as his low growl reverberated in his throat.

_Damn Jack._

His hands moved from her legs to her back as he pulled her into his arms. The feel of her pressed so hard against him sent a warm, fluttery feeling all though her body, pooling at the pit of her stomach.

"Riddick?" she said as his hands moved up her back and stopped at the side of her face. His kisses were making it hard to concentrate and his mouth had found the hollow of her neck and he did not intend on stopping any time soon.

His lips came close to kissing her again and she pulled back but his hands had her pinned against him and all she could smell was his body, and hear his growl as she tried to move against him. He was drunk on her, "Damn Jack." He sighed against her neck. "No wonder…they…hated…you…" he said feeling her breasts against his body, his hands cupping those perfect cheeks.

"Next," he said breathlessly.

"Truth or dare Riddick?"

"Truth. Cause if I say dare, we may have a problem." He admitted feeling her shift slightly against his erection. He groaned holding her hips, looking at her with determined eyes. "Don't move."

She smiled and looked at him with a wicked grin. "What would you do I did this?" she asked grinding slightly against him while smiling and keeping his gaze.

His growl was loud and desperate. "I would punish you for it." he smiled his eyes full of lust and need.

"How?" she quipped.

"Next. You're turn Jack. I answered my question."

She growled moving to get off him. He grabbed her hips. "I said," he told her looking smug. "don't move. Truth or dare Jack."

"Truth… I'm needing a bit of a break." She said feeling his hands on her hips and running back to her legs.

"You want me don't you?" he said smiling triumphantly.

"If I say yes, you're head will get all swollen. If I say no, you won't believe me anyway."

"Princess," he said pushing his hips upward, "my head is already swollen and you need to answer the question."

She gasped feeling his hardness against her and she took a ragged breath in. "You've got to be kidding."

"Nope, put up or shut up."

She sat silent. He growled, then ran his fingers down her torso to get her to talk. He immediately realized how ticklish she was and it getting her to relent was going to be more fun than he thought.

XXX

"Jack?" I ask cause I want her to say it out loud. After that kiss, and her moving on top of me, come on.

She's got resolve I'll give her that. "No. I won't tell you." She smirks. She's mocking me wanting this to go further. Wicked little…

I figure drastic measures are necessary but that could lead to my losing the battle. But tickling her is gonna be fun.

I flip her and she's on her back. "Ohhh." She says in a huff. I'm in a better position anyway. She's pinned.

"Tell me Jack. I'm stronger, faster and a lot harder to handle." I purr in her ear. Damn she feels good underneath me.

_Be the gentleman, _my rational self says.

_Do it, she's right there and she wants you._ the beast growls.

"In...your...dreams…" she squeals as I take my hands and poke her sides.

Bet your panties are nice and damp there princess…

"What do I have to do to make you?" I growl moving against her letting her know that she's not the only one hot and bothered.

XXX

"Riddick, you couldn't make me on your best day." She challenged looking up at his silver pools.

"Don't bank on that princess. I can guarantee I'd make you." he countered moving his face to breathe against her neck. "I could do it with a whisper."

"Not likely." she smirked as he lowered himself so she could feel every part of him. He was positioned between her legs and his chest rumbling as he growled in her ear.

For two straight minutes he told her softly, purring and husky in her ear exactly what he wanted to do to her, and what he wanted her to do to him. Her whimpers and attempts at moving were futile as he hands ran up and down her sides driving her insane. "Now, say it."

"Yes, damn it. God, yes." She moaned against his neck.

"Good girl." He laughed evilly. He got up, sat back down and smiled like the devil himself had just won.

"Bastard." She told him sitting up flush and aroused as hell.

"Next." He said pouring himself another shot.

"That would be you Riddick." she said fanning herself and adjusting herself trying to cool off.

"Truth." He said slurring a bit.

"That's shot number 5 isn't it?" she asked him. He nodded and smiled. "When was the last time you paid for it?"

"Over a year ago. There, your turn Adeni." He said smiling.

"Truth as well because I think if I had a dare, I may do something you'll regret." She told him looking into his eyes and caressing his bald head. He moaned as she continued to touch him.

"Princess, I'll never regret _that_." He smiled looking at her. He was drunk as hell and her touch was putting him asleep.

"Really? That's good to know. Ask your question, Riddick." she crooned in his ear. He growled a satisfied purr.

"Did you fantasize about me in the shower the first night?"

His eyes were closing and he wanted to sleep, sleep with her and hold her tight.

"Yes, every night after as well." She whispered. "Riddick?"

"Hmm." He replied content as a kitten with a plate of milk.

"Why did Imam tell you I was off limits?" she asked carefully.

"He didn't." he whispered in his lowest tones. "Salim did. He said you needed someone worthy."

That did it. She was livid. "Riddick! Open your eyes. That son of a bitch. Who the fuck is he to tell me how to live my life?" she nearly shouted breaking him out of his sleepiness. "If I want to fuck you, I'll do just that."

He broke, laughing hysterically. "Well Jack, that's good to know. I'm so glad I could be of service."

She jumped up and laughed as hard as she could. "You're an asshole."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." He said smiling. "Come back here and put me to sleep. That felt good. Better than I deserve."

"Part of my many skills." She told him smiling. "Listen gorgeous, get up, you'll never rest on this couch. Come on, let's pour you into your bed."

"Are you sure you had enough fun?" he asked staggering off the safety of the couch.

Taking his arm he looked down at her. "You know, I really like having you around. You make me happy." He said slurring and smiling.

"Yeah, a real barrel of sunshine. Come on big guy, let's get to bed."

"Best suggestion all night. Bet your panties are still damp." He said holding onto the wall. "Shouldn't have said that."

"Sh." she tried to tell him but the moment she got him in his room he staggered.

"Go to bed Jack. I'll be fine." He told her. "Jack?"

"Yeah Riddick?" she said in the darkness.

"Where's my kiss goodnight?" he crooned sitting on the bed and removing his boots.

"Will you remember it?" she asked, debating.

"Probably not." He laughed falling back on the bed.

"Good."

She removed his boots and socks, undid his shirt and pushed it off and climbed on top of him. "Sh."

Her lips came down on his with a possessive penetrative kiss. She held his face and coaxed his mouth open and devoured him. His hands cupped her cheeks, his strong hands pulling her onto his hardened arousal. His growl against her throat was an indication he was enjoying it. "Good night Riddick, sleep well." She said as his face went slack and his eyes closed.


	24. Hangovers really suck

When Jack woke the next morning, she knew right off something wasn't right. Riddick, normally an early riser, wasn't awake, the vid-phone was blaring and the clock in her quarters indicated that they had slept over ten hours.

And, to her dismay, she was in her own bed.

Since they'd run from Hellion Prime, the max they could get at a time was three to four hours and far as sleep went. Despite the hangover, Jack felt pretty damn good about the whole birthday bash. Kissing Riddick was the best part, after the necklace. Now, if she could convince him that she wasn't a kid anymore and that it was okay for him to want her too, it could get a great deal more interesting.

Dressed in her one pair of black jeans, a tight fitting long sleeve shirt and her mechanics boots, she looked all business. They were arriving at New London, and she wanted to look less like a girl and more like her old self, tough as nails Jack.

Her hair was in a tight braid down her back and she decided to wear her necklace, a choker made of deep blood red stones in an intricate silver weave because it pleased her and she knew it would please him.

The lack of light coming from his room, did not surprise her, neither was his open door. She'd left it open in case something happened and also in case she felt the need to check on him. Tip toeing into it she inhaled and smelled him. Carrying coffee, she placed it on the dresser and walked tentatively over to his bed. She was hoping that he wasn't as hungover as she was, given the fact that he had downed his limit of the volatile fluid before passing out.

She stood there in the darkness, waiting for him to growl at her for disturbing him. When he continued to snore softly, she figured that if hadn't already pounced her, and it was safe enough to try and wake him.

"Riddick?" she asked walking towards his bed.

No response.

She came closer, and again no response. "Riddick, wake up. The vid-phone has a message and we've come to the shipping lanes."

Before she realized what was happening to her she was flat on her back, pinned to the bed by a huge chest, and massive hips. In the darkness, his silver eyes stared at her and looked deadly.

When Riddick came to full wakefulness, he realized that he had Jack on her back and his hand was around her slender throat.

"Rid-" she choked.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Jack Jesus!" he said quickly releasing her. The pain in his eyes made her wince which made his discomfort all the more tormenting. He'd nearly strangled her and he wasn't even awake at the time.

"T-time to wake up sleepy head." She wheezed still pinned down by his other hand. Her were arms above her head she was at his mercy. He let them go and she laid them back against the pillows.

"Jack! Say something!" he nearly shouted. He began to panic in earnest when she didn't respond right away.

"Air would be nice big guy." She smirked at him when she realized she was still pinned, she smiled. "unless of course you something else in mind to make it up to me?"

"First mistake, never wake me up." He said groaning when he realized the same thing. "I could have killed you."

She tried to squirm and made him growl in her ear. "Second mistake, never let me drink again. God Jack, my fucken head."

"Duly noted, but Riddick? All this growling in my ear is turning me on so if you don't mind, clothes would be a really good idea now. Cause, baby, you got a problem." She whispered in his ear moaning against him.

Her breath was warm on his neck and he could feel her body pressed against him. He noticed her hips, the flatness of her stomach, the rise and fall of her breathing and her scent, and the breasts he longed to taste right there for the taking.

'Oh shit, I'm fucken naked.' He thought.

"Glad it's dark?" she said smiling. "Need any help with that?"

"Out! I'm gonna shower." He growled moving to the bathroom and looking at the dresser. "Jack, thanks for the coffee."

"You don't want your good morning kiss now?" she quipped.

"OUT." He ordered as she closed the door.

When Riddick arrived in the mess Jack had already eaten and had been to the med lab for something to counteract the hangover for him.. She sat there just as pleased as she could be, with her feet up on one of the tables sipping coffee and looking at the news, playing on a large screen in front of her.

"Audrey Richards, pictured, age 17, is wanted by the New Mecca council of Elders to fulfill her obligations as…She has been seen in the company of Richard Anderson… Price for her safe return, $1,000,000 credits. Price for Anderson, dead or alive, 150,000 credits. Contact Faisal Mohammed New Mecca Pilgrim Authority."

"Knew it come to a payday one of these days." Came a familiar voice from behind her.

"Yeah, look, I'm worth more than you." she smirked rubbing her neck and sighing.

"Look kid I'm sorry." He said watching her move to sit on the back of the couch.

He came to stand between her legs and ran his fingers along her knees looking guilty.

"No biggie, the whole huge dick thing kind of washed away any abject terror." She said smiling. He looked up and shook his head.

"Can't help the equipment I've been given." He smirked. _Take that Jack._

"You really want to make out with me right now don't you?" she quipped standing firm a wicked twinkle in her eyes. _Bring it on big boy._

"Every minute of every day princess. Where's my good morning kiss?" he growled in her ear.

"Well, that depends Mr. Try and strangle your…" she tried to finish but stops. "co-pilot?"

He stiffened. "You aren't going to let me forget that are you?"

"Do you do that often? The strangling your friends thing I mean." she asked hugging him. "I'm sorry too. I should have been more careful. Thank god I didn't wake up there…"

His arms held her tenderly and he felt so bad about the entire event. "You smell good. I don't recognize that scent."

Now it was her turn to look guilty. "Missing anything?"

He had to think, "Come to think of it, I don't remember taking my…off… Hey, I didn't do anything last night cause the last thing I remember was…"

"No, I put you to bed like a good girl and was going to wash your shirt, but kind of woreittobedinstead." She said quickly and looked anywhere but at him.

He laughed hard and loudly. "Good morning Jack. I smell good on you." then he kissed her cheek and went to get some coffee.

"You know, for a cold blooded killer that's feared throughout the systems, you're very affectionate when you're content." She said sitting back down to watch more of the news. "I guess you've changed since your untimely demise."

"Well, feeling free, even for a little while will do that to me. Plus, I had fun last night. Didn't you?" he said sitting down and accessing the terminal.

XXX

"Here, for your hangover." She says to me not answering the question.

"I'll be fine." I tell her. I need this headache to remind me how close I came to ghosting her ass.

"So, what's the message?"

"Coordinates for the pick up." I say and she's looking uncomfortable. Now, I'm starting to worry. "Uh Jack, is there something you're not telling me?"

She's shifting and I take that as a yes. "Jack?"

"What was the last thing you remember?" she asks me and I know something's up.

Shit. What the hell did I do?

I try and recount the previous night. 5 shots, ugh… Kissing, pinning, whispering dirty things in her ear, laughing about the fucking thing, oh yeah forgot about that. That makes me smile. She was so pissed.

Way to go to be a gentleman asshole. The last thing, oh shit. I remember now. That little sneak…

"You stole my shirt. That was not the last thing I remember princess." I'm fucking with her now because its all a bit fuzzy still. Maybe she will tell me and I'll remember.

"Besides that, anything else?" she's beat red now. That little shit…

"Oh, nothing. You know our new idents will work great and I've got money on credit chips too." She says trying to change the subject.

I'm not buying. "Jack?"

She's squirming now. "You're gonna laugh at me and I'm gonna have to kick your ass for it."

She touches my face for a minute to try and distract me, bringing back memories of a good night kiss and me passing out. "Sorry, I have to go." She says and bolts out of the room at top speed.

She's not leaving it like that.

"Jack!" I yell and I find her in her room. "Don't move."

"Go away." She says looking towards the bathroom. "I'm a terrible person."

"No you're not. Sneaky but not terrible." I tell her and make it a point to not go near that bed.

"We're coming up to New London. I think we need to talk about something before we land."

"In my defense you were still coherent when you asked for it."

"I remember, it just took me some coffee to jar it loose. You little minx." I say standing in her way. "So."

"So." She says uncomfortably. I love having the upper hand.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself." she tells me. But I remember her feeling so good and it wasn't the fact that I was drunk as hell. I never black out, pass out yeah, but I remember everything up to that point.

"So I guess we're even." I tell her. "You had something to be guilty about, and so did I. Granted mine was a bit worse than yours."

"Okay we're even."

"How are we going to work New London? I think that the way I look now will cause us to be recognized. I was thinking you could help me with that."

What is she suggesting? Then I see her come out with my shiv. "Cut it off." She says holding out her hair. "They won't recognize me then."

Aw Jack, not that. Please not that. "I want to be free Riddick, they're looking for a woman with waist length hair. Cut it off."

"Jack, we don't have to do it. I could go alone. Man, not the hair, it's so…Shit Jack."

"Give it to me." she said hand out.

"No. I'll do it you're right." I say seeing the point. If I leave up to her it'll be bald again. Not a chance. I take it and cut just below her neckline, and the braid is in my hand. That fucken gorgeous hair, gone.

"Thanks, now I won't stand out." She tells me. Fat chance of that happening.

All I can do is stare, and hold her hair in my hand. "You liked it long?"

"All men do Jack, it's a guy thing."

"Sorry."

"No you're right. It's a liability. But this it's okay." I say, don't whine Riddick, then you're just one big pussy.

"How are you feeling? Want some food?" she asks trying to change the subject. Good kid, I'm feeling kind of shitty about that.

"No, food is not a good idea right now." I say feeling my gut want to rebel.

"Hey, I wanna show you something." She smiles.

Come here. I wanna show you something to. I put the braid down and she walks over to the dresser and pulls out her lap top. "Let's go to the mess, you'll want to see this there."

She's right because if I get a hold of anything of hers on that bed, she's history. And there goes me being the good guy.

We both sit on the couch, coffee for both and she shows me how she makes up idents. She's been busy and I've got three and she's got two. Each time we're married. "Hey, is there something I should know? You trying to get in my pants?" I smirk, sorry Jack, I had to go there.

"Do you want me to be your sister?"

HELL NO.

"No, just checking. So what does this mean? We pretend while in public?" I ask, hey this could be fun. "Holding hands, smiling you adoring me?"

"It depends on you." she tells me looking at me with a smug grin.

"Really? Who copped a feel when I was passed out?" I counter. Go there Jack, come on, you know you want to.

"You were not passed out and I did not cop a feel, your hands were on _my_ ass so let's stand on the record here." She says pissed.

"Okay, since we're standing on the record here. You started the entire night by suggesting that fucken game."

"Oh but you brought the whiskey so I rest my case. Cause stone sober you wouldn't dare do what you did."

I'm about to say something but that would only inflame an already very volatile situation. She's like playing with fire. "See, I thought so."

I sit back down and run my hands over my face. "I'm trying here Jack."

"Denial isn't a river in Egypt. Riddick. When you figure out what you want let me know. I'm gonna go punch the shit out of something." She says leaving me alone in the mess.

Her laptop is blinking and her files are unsecured. I can't seem to help myself.

Accessing personal vid data:

password:

Riddick.

How cute, that's my name. Lame Jack. I'd of thought of something more complicated, HOLY FUCK.

XXX

Riddick sat with the laptop on his lap as the photos of her taken by Kalifa came into view. The first was her against the wall, low rise jeans and her black shirt. The second, right next to the first was her laying on her stomach completely naked. Her tattoos fully visible and her hair was pulled back. She was laying on a red blanket draped across a settee. He adjusted himself when the next one, then the next, all of her and absolutely beautiful.

He closed off the files and walked directly towards the gym. "Jack. I want to talk about what you said."

"I don't." she said hitting the punching bag. "I get it its okay."

"No it's not. We've got to go." He said instead. She pinned her hair back and walked off. That did not go as he intended.

He walked next to her as she went to her room and grabbed her hand. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Stop." He ordered standing in front of her. "Listen, Jack, it's not… I knew when I brought out the bottle what could happen. I wanted to…"

"Just spit it out." She said looking at him with big hurt eyes. "Tell me it was a mistake and I'll forget the whole night happened. Will that make you feel better?"

She slipped out of his grip and grabbed her coat. "We've got to land, you'd better get to the cockpit."


	25. Shore Leave

New London was big and there was nothing that made Jack feel better than fresh air, the smell of good food, and Riddick, paying special attention to her.

He used the fact that in public, he had to be close to her, that he was supposed to be her husband. He played it up, holding her hand, putting his arm around her, walking close, all the while keeping a look out for trouble.

When they arrived night had fallen, and after his meeting with his contact they ate a brief dinner in a café outside the city limits along a street where there was a lot of underground clubs.

He knew she was feeling better and that was important. He had the feeling that she was hurt by his behavior and wanted her to feel good.

"Feel like fun Riddick?" she asked smiling. Dinner was good and she enjoyed it. The fact that he had petted her and gave her attention when she needed it was just a bonus.

"I can do fun. Never did fun before, but I can try." He said to her taking her hand and walking in the night air. "What do you have in mind Jack?"

"Do you dance my husband?" she said smiling knowing that word sent shivers down his spine. They played their parts so well that he was forgetting about the fact that once on the ship it would be back to biting and scratching because of the awkwardness. But he smiled back loving his part, it was quickly becoming his favorite.

It struck him as strange that the feeling of just being with Jack would calm him and excite him at the same time. He had always thought of her as someone special, and he couldn't reject the notion that his feelings, although lustful for sure, were deeper and more close to his hear than he had realized before. These thought were comforting and frightening at the same time, but he didn't seem to mind them.

"No, but I like to watch." _You. _He answered kissing her cheek.

"No hands? I remember your hands, you like hands…" she said low just loud enough for him to hear her.

"I think that wine's gone to your head." He quipped looking at her stare at him.

"I had one glass with food so you can forget the 'you're drunk' excuse. I want to let go a bit, come on… Don't make me beg."

_Now that's an idea. _He thought.

"On two conditions." He said pulling her aside and leaning against a low wall. "You will not let any man touch you, and the minute I say leave, we're gone."

"Absolutely." She answered feeling his hands on her hips underneath the long leather coat she wore. "I get it, no men. You're really possessive you know that?"

"I don't share." He said kissing her neck just for the hell of it. "Like that did you?"

"No fair, you're taking this game too seriously." She sighed in his ear.

"Just marking my territory." He chuckled putting his hand on her ass and smacking it.

"Come on Tarzan." She said putting her arm around him. "You're a fun date."

"This is my first one." He said quietly.

"No! Really?" she said surprised. "Don't worry it's mine too."

They both laughed and went into the club. It was dark except for the strobe lights above them and on the dance floor. The music was similar to the kind she like to listen to and she was excited when they entered.

"Well, you like to watch," she said into his ear, then nipping it, "so watch."

He groaned and she shed her coat moving towards the dance floor.

The beat was hard fast and hypnotic. He watched her close her eyes and feel the music. She was letting the animal out and he loved to watch her when she did.

_Be careful dickey boy or you'll forget it's a game…_

He sat back in the shadows as she waded through the sea of people to the pit where men and women undulated to the beat of the music. He couldn't be more pleased…She needed to let go, the test would be to not pounce her when she did.

His gaze was steady and he watched her react to the reverberating music around her. Moving with the waves of people dancing she forgot herself, which was good, because he was compelled to stare at her body which was perfect for dancing. He realized how much he wanted to touch her, to rip her clothes off and dive into her.

A woman tapped her on the should her and she smiled, starting an erotic dance with Jack, causing Riddick to stop breathing altogether. He took in a shallow breath as she put her hands on Jack's hips and began to grind against her.

_Jack, you keep surprising me…_

It was the most stimulating thing he'd ever watched. The years in the slam, the ones on the run, he'd never had a chance to play, to enjoy life. And he was enjoying the hell out of watching her.

_Go out there, get a piece of that—_his inner beast shouted.

He continued to watch Jack being touched and touching the woman who looked about as hot as she did and wondered what the hell he was doing sitting down and not going to her. To say that he was aroused would have been an understatement. He shifted against the pole where he had been watching them and realized that it wasn't enough. His taste of her the night before and the memories of his hands on her were enough to make him want her.

Riddick removed his coat placed it by the pole where he knew no one would take them and began to move towards her. He knew one thing. He wanted those hips writhing against him, _now._

When he reached her, she was heavy lidded and aroused. The music, her constant staring at him while she danced, made his arrival all the more intoxicating. "Wanna play baby?" she asked in his ear.

"Oh yeah." He said smiling and looking at her partner who smiled and returned to the throng of people behind her. She was all animal now. And he wrapped her arm around her and pulled her against his pelvis and felt her hips move. A new song started with a hot grinding beat and he took full advantage of it and put his other arm across her collarbone his hand was flat across the valley of her breasts, holding her against him while he kissed her neck and pushed against her rhythmically. She moaned and squirmed against him. He loved every second, and growled in her ear to let her know that she could let go and he'd be there to enjoy the ride with her.

"Yeah that's good Riddick." she said licking her lips.

He growled in response. _Now this is more like it. _He remembered how her hips moved so erotically when he watched her dance the first time in the gym, but it felt incredible to have those seductive movements move against him made him so hard he could barely stand it. She leaned against him arching herself after feeling his hardness against her backside and he groaned taking it all in.

_She's fucking unbelievable. _He slowly snaked his hands around her waist flattening one against her low stomach. He got underneath her shirt and felt the hot slick skin underneath. She was letting him move her hips until he grabbed her and turned her around. "Jack, you're beautiful."

"Touch me." she said staring into his goggled eyes. The lights went low and blue light, light that he could tolerate began to run across the dance floor.

He took off his goggles and placed the into one of his pockets and cupped both her cheeks and put her on one of his thighs. Holding her fast, she moved against him slowly, grinding against his movements. She moved her hands up his chest and down towards his waist. He growled against her as he pulled her close to him. Her hands moved toward his waist and he let her lean back a bit to dance against him.

She took her hand and ran one up her torso, and over one breast while at the same time she ran one down his stomach and down the leg she'd been dancing against, grazing him. His arms crushed her while he kissed her neck, "You're killing me Jack." He growled in her ear.

"I'm sorry." She said as his hands were under the back of her shirt tracing small circles on her back.

"No Jack, you're not." He said looking into her eyes and only seeing desire and need.

"No, I'm really not." She groaned as his mouth had hit just under her chin. "Riddick I could say the same. You are a pretty good dancer you know." She said as the music changed again. It was a song with a slower, more sensual beat. They swayed touching and caressing each other. His hands were against her back and sides, desperate for her breasts but he knew if he ventured there, he'd be in serious trouble. He never kissed her lips either, but worked his way around her face and neck making her so hot for him she couldn't stand it either.

That made him happy as hell. "Jack, I just know how to fuck standing up and I like doing that, a lot." He purred in her ear. "The only difference is we're fully clothed and in public."

"Well," she said moaning against his ear, then taking her tongue and licking his neck tasting salt, "that's good to know."

He smiled at that moving faster and pushing her spread thighs against his pelvis in quicker more fluid movements. "Just you wait …."

"Oh, yeah…promises, promises." She smirked moaning every word. "You uh, talk, a, good, oh, show."

He stiffened and put her down. "Time to go Jack." He said seeing something over her shoulder that made him nervous and he didn't like that at all.

She grabbed his goggles from his pocket and handed them to him suppressing whatever she had been experiencing at the time. Time to go, meant time to go.

XXX

He felt them before he actually saw them and if it weren't for the fact that Jack was a pretty big distraction, he'd of noticed them a lot sooner.

_Way to go asshole---leading with your dick._ He thought to himself.

He grabbed Jack's hand and led her from the dance floor thankful that there was blue light and tons of people to mask their escape. He knew she was worried and frightened. He didn't look at her but kept his eyes on the two men that seemed to be transfixed with the dancers that had been dancing around them.

_Mercs. Can smell them a mile away. _He moved silently, pulling her along until he reached the couch where he had put their coats, a recessed seat where he could watch unnoticed. He sat down and pulled her on his lap making her face him. "Where?" she asked shaking a little.

Placing his hands on her hips she looked at his face, his shining eyes boring into her face. "One at the bar, one by the railing." He said as her eyes adjusted to see what he did. He smiled wryly as she found them and he could feel her hands tense on his arms. She groaned and closed her eyes in disgust. _That's my girl, see them, get used to it, that's my life…your life now._

She turned back to him and asked, "What's the plan?"

He grabbed the sides of her face and his lips came down on hers in a crushing passionate kiss that sent her reeling. His arms, strong and hard, held her against him as his lips assaulted hers in a fervent seductive dance. His agressiveness removed whatever conscious thought she had in her brain, and it became only his touch, the taste of him and his scent that she could concentrate on.

His lips, at first hard and possessive softened into a playful and arousing array of nips and touches against her skin and his growling against the hollow of her neck, as his hands roamed her slender back gave her the most incredible sensation deep down into her body.

"What—was—that—for?" she asked breathlessly mindful not to say his name or speak too loudly._  
_

If it weren't for the fact that the mercs were directly in front of them, she would have attacked him with everything she had. His tongue was incredible and she couldn't wait to taste him again, and again and again. His kisses were powerful and intoxicating and she had dreamed for such a long time that he would be the one to make her ache to have more. She closed her eyes allowing herself to succumb to the feather light touch of his hand underneath her shirt, the feel of his rough hands against her skin and his labored breathing because of it.

He felt it too, she wasn't just dreaming it. Riddick was touching her and wanting her as badly as she wanted him. Against her cheek, as he toyed with the back of her neck making her mewl with pleasure, he whispered in his husky growl, "They're right behind me. Be quiet."

He played with her hair, calming her, as he listened to the voices as he watched them. All the while, keeping her from seeing them. "Kill Anderson, and get the girl. Mohammed wants her untouched, and I mean untouched. One hair out of place and we're fucked." A deep voice said from six feet away.

_No…_she thought grabbing onto Riddick's arm.

His petting of the back of her neck continued and his lips found hers in a slow deliberately dizzying set of deeply penetrative kisses, causing her to lose all fear, and only concentrate on his stirring her blood into a hot boil.

Descending to her jaw, her neck and ear he purred, "Sh. It's gonna be fine Jack."

All she could do was whimper and involuntarily arched her back pushing herself harder against him making him growl in response. He moved his hands to her hips to stop her but only served to push her harder against him.

_Gotta focus dickey boy, there's time for that later…_

He groaned and started kissing her again cupping her face and enjoying himself waiting for the men to speak again. _Damn Jack you taste fantastic, but I gotta listen so I can kill these fucks._ He thought to himself as her hands played with the back of his neck. His body cried out for release and he knew that he would never tolerate another man putting his hands on her. She was his and no one was going to come between them.

He pulled away from the lure of her ferocious desire moving his lips to her neck and resting them there. Her disappointment at his ceasing made him smile against her skin.

_There's always later for **that** Jack._

"Stroud, a million is a big payday. Why the fuck is she so expensive? What did she do ghost somebody?"

Riddick continued rubbing and caressing her, keeping her distracted as he listened. "No man, she's a virgin and that fat fuck wants to be the first to get that ride. He wants that cherry to be his. Look Boyle, wouldn't you want to fuck that?" Stroud said looking at the photo showing it to a smaller thinner man.

"Jesus, look at that mouth, gotta wonder what she could do with that! Who wouldn't want a piece of that fine ass. Damn if she would be a tight fuck. What if she's been breached?"

"We can't touch her, she's gotta come back in tact. If she's been popped, then we lose half the money asshole. But that fat fuck on Hellion Prime said nothing about fucking her up the ass. Now, you wanna talk about tight."

Jack felt Riddick's jaw muscles clench and knew they were both as dead as the men in New Mecca, but the difference was going to be that this would be for pleasure, not just to get them off their backs. He was going to take his time.

She whimpered in fear and bit her lip when the words reached her. "Jack, don't believe a word of it. They won't touch you." he whispered in her ear.

"We'll take them at the ship, the trader we set up said they'd come down here. All the hot bitches do, We just have to check each club until we find them. Man getting her is gonna be a great fucken payday. She's worth more than that butcher Riddick before he got ghosted. They need to be back in a few hours to pick up the cargo, lets keep looking. Asshole said she was wearing that long fucking hair up. Look around, maybe we'll get lucky." Stroud decided running his fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, lucky, I want to pop her ass first." The skinny man said putting the picture in his pants. "I want to cum in that creamy ass."

Riddick growled rage and jealousy swelling within him. Jack felt his agitation and smooth his cheek with hers purring, in her dreams it always worked to calm him. Her dream was right, he softened if only briefly.

He closed his eyes for a few moments, gathering his thoughts and working out a plan. She laid her forehead against his and waited. She felt his hands work their way up her body and pull the clip that held her hair in. "I like it down better, don't you Jack?"

He smiled at her and stared at her mouth, and wanted to taste it again. "Jack," he said pulling her into his arms closer than he had before, not teasing, but protectively he spoke low and in her ear, "I'm gonna ghost them all."

"Good, kill them slowly, pull their innards out, then let's disappear, like you said. I want this over." She said in a low menacing tone. His growl against her chest was all the approval she needed.

He held her tenderly resting his cheek on hers, knowing the animal was coming and he didn't know when he'd be able to feel like that again. "Jack. Move. Now. Stay behind me and keep up." He ordered putting his goggles back on and grabbing his long coat.

She put hers on and fell in step with him and they followed without notice. Every few moments he would check on her and her face, serious and deadly, and saw the fatigue that he understood all too well.

The two mercs were walking towards an alley a few block from the spaceport. Riddick knew that this was the moment that they would use to their advantage. Cutting between the alleys and the rows of ships in the distance, Riddick pulled Jack aside and spoke in a low whisper.

"Jack, listen to me. I will come back for you. Don't move, understand?" he said and her nod was something he'd never forget. Her face showed him hope, fear and love. He'd do anything to hold onto that love.

"Hurry." Was all she said and he was gone.

When he doubled back around the building, there was not light or sound when the two came out towards him. "Busy night." He said ominously from the darkness._  
_

"Who the fuck are you asshole?" Stroud said looking at him menacingly.

"I said busy night." Riddick repeated and all the two mercs saw was his shining eyes in the darkness.

"Yeah, man's gotta work right?" Stroud said feeling nervous suddenly.

"Now, you're probably wondering what's about to happen." Riddick said leaning against the fire escape with his arms crossed.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Boyle said looking even more nervous.

"I'm trying to figure which one of you is gonna be first. I'm really trying to be fair, but it's hard seeing that both of you need to be first."

Stroud heard the shivs come out as he emerged from the darkness his coat gone and his shined eyes gleaming. "Oh, fuck. Riddick!" he said remembering everything there was to know about the high priced payday. "You're supposed to be dead."

"Yeah, accounts of my death have been highly exaggerated." He growled the animal coming out slowly.

"We ain't after you man." Boyle said in a nervous laugh.

"You're first mistake was to take the job." He said walking closer. His movements were lightning fast and he had a hold of Boyle in a matter of seconds incapacitating him and leaving him bleeding on the pavement, very much alive and screaming in pain.

"Second mistake was coming after the girl." He said taking a hold of Stroud, who tried to defend himself and cut his arm making him laugh. "Nice try you might wanna remember that I'm gonna pull your guts out. A request from _her._ Last mistake was thinking you could touch her. She's mine."

He slit his throat and felt the warm blood spray across the alley and onto his partner. He let the older man drop and walked over to Boyle who lay there holding his side.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You should have never said you wanted to fuck her." Riddick said looming above him. His bloodshot eyes stared up at the man and wondered how the fuck he had gotten himself into this mess.

"Y-you were there?" he stammered.

"I heard every word.. Did you ever wonder how long your intestines were, or what they looked like? Let's find out shall we?" he said and all that Jack heard from the other alley was horrible screams then silence.

XXX

Jack stood exactly where Riddick had left her and she knew that she'd better stay put. Judging by the screams, he did what she requested and she wanted to vomit at the thought of the terror and excruciating pain he was causing them. In the darkness, she felt him approach and all she wanted to do was run to him, know he was all right and feel his protection.

When he reached her, he put his hands up. "Don't touch me. Let's go." He ordered as they hurried along the dark streets towards the ship.

The ship was on ready status, fueled and primed for launch. They were supposed to pick up the cargo in three hours but that was staged to get them there and he knew it was fucked. Riddick knew two things, he had to stay away from her and they needed to get gone as soon as possible.

The ship was dark and he ripped his goggles off and shouted in the darkness, "Lights cockpit! Jack set the launch codes, hit the auto pilot and we're gone." He moved silently and she heard his door slam shut. She began to cry and pushed the buttons fast and strapped herself in waiting for the pull of the ship reaching altitude.

He didn't want to see her. She knew it was all a game. All of it and he felt nothing.

She hated him, he felt it the moment he returned to the ship, or was it the after effects of his dealing with the mercs? He practically ran from her not wanting her to see him covered in blood, or the fact that he'd been injured because he _had_ to fuck with them before he did it, or the fact that his face showed pleasure at the deaths of the men who wanted to hurt her.

He returned a few minutes later dressed in dark colors so she wouldn't notice he'd tied off a cloth to keep the blood from running down his arm in a steady flow. He'd wait until she was asleep to look at it. He only wanted to see her.

She sat in the co-pilot seat and was gravely silent. His thoughts were still murderous and he was silent too, not wanting to lash out at her. She sat looking at the blinking lights and rose without saying a word, thinking he wanted nothing to do with her and left without a sound.

She left not wanting to remember he was a killer, but that he was a man, who desired her, wanted to touch and be with her and was the man who sent her mind reeling with his dizzying kisses and touch that drove her mad.

She ran to her room and cried, racking mournful cries that echoed throughout the entire deck, tormenting him for hours until she'd cried herself to sleep.


	26. He said she said

_She hates you. You've finally done it. You fucked up_, says the voice of reason inside my head.

I'm looking out into the blackness of space and I see nothing. I have nothing because I fucked up and did it.

_You didn't do anything._ My beast growls piping up now that I'm alone.

Didn't I? I kissed her. I didn't have to. But I did. I danced with her, let her touch me, let her tease me.

_You love it. you loved every second of it. _It growls.

I can't deny that her touch sends me into a mood that I've never felt before. Sure, I get horny just like the next guy but this is different. I see Jack for so much more than her body offers as a diversion. She's special, and I treated her like a whore.

I'm a sick fuck.

_She kissed you first you know. _My beast defends.

True, but that was a dare and didn't count.

_Yes, it all counts _he contends and partially he's right. Every touch, every kiss, every innuendo, it all counts. She's supposed to be off limits.

_She wants you._ it growls.

I want her. I think in a way I've always wanted her. Back on T2, I saw Fry and thought what a fine piece of ass she was, but Jack was different. She saw _me _and wasn't afraid. That says a lot. And over the years, when I would get word from holy man, he'd tell me how she was growing up, how she never forgot about me, and that he knew that something connected us. I blew him off. But there _is_ something. I can't deny that anymore.

I'm setting a course for the Meterora System, far from prying eyes, so I can figure this out. I need to make her understand that I'm too dangerous for her to be around. I also have to get some time to figure out how I'm gonna kill that bastard. I'll kill them all. I don't care how many. I won't give her up, not now, not ever.

I'm not making any fucken sense.

She's the only thing in this whole fucked up universe that matters and now I fucked even that up by kissing her, tasting her.

XXX

"Riddick!!!" she screamed and in the deep silence of the night, it felt like a shiv against his heart.

Her room was dark and he threw off his goggles and ran to her. He lifted her to her feet and carried her to his room, staggering some in the darkness. She was shaking so badly that he took no time whatsoever in settling her I his bed, wiping the tears from her face. She flinched against his touch, and he groaned. He shivered, not feeling anything but her skin, not being able to think of anything else than having her, touching her.

When he went to leave her she pulled his bad arm, grabbing hard and making him wince. "Don't go please."

Inside he argued whether or not it was a good idea to stay and he growled at himself for fighting. He pulled her onto his lap and rocked her letting her cry again, hearing those racking cries once more until her body was exhausted and weary.

"He told me once that he would be the only man to touch me. That he would keep me locked up with his other wives and there I would stay, never seeing you or Imam. He _knew_ about you Riddick. He said he would have sent you back to the slam if I didn't submit. I don't want you to go away. If he saw you and I together, he said he would have men sent to kill you. I don't want to lose you again, not when I have touched you, talked to you, been near you I can't…I won't…"

She cried and sobbed again. _Faisal Mohammed was a dead man. So was that bitch Ziza. How could I ever let them abuse her like that?_ He thought feeling the torment inside so horribly that he wanted to die and he felt so hot, so dry inside and couldn't stop his heart from slamming against his chest.

"That is never gonna happen Jack. EVER Do you hear me? I will not give you up to anyone. We can change the idents on this ship, on ourselves. Forget he exists. He's never gonna touch you again." he growled loudly looking directly into her tear stained eyes.

"He's just so bad, he reminded me of my dad. He likes them young, you know. Younger than me. But there's the law. He likes to torture his wives. My dad made me wish I was a boy because of the way he looked at me, Faisal looks at me the same way. That's why I left, because he looked at me that way. Funny how I ended up on that transport. Look at me now, still wishing I looked like a boy."

His face was against her chest and he listened to her heart beating, and felt his own erratic pulse. He cursed himself for wanting her even at her most vulnerable.

He removed her boots and socks not speaking but feeling like he shouldn't be touching her. He sat with her still in his arms as she curled up against him so quiet he thought she was asleep. He murmured something and her head looked down and she saw his face resting against her chest, his eyes closed.

"What did you say Riddick?" she whispered caressing his head.

He felt oddly vulnerable and wished he had kept his mouth shut.

"I said," he replied through his teeth because he knew that she would have made it a point to taunt him about it and he was just too damn tired to listen, "I'm glad your not a boy."

He groaned while she chuckled.

"You are, are you?" she said laughing. It was like music to his ears. "And why is that, you think?"

He moved her off his lap before his own desires betrayed him before he could speak. "Shut up kid. Lay down and go to sleep. We've got two weeks before we hit the next system and I have a star jump or two before that. Sleep in my bed. You'll end up here anyway."

"What about you?" she asked him knowing it was true.

"I'll live." He said feeling dizzy and tired.

"I don't blame you. I want you to know that. Not for leaving me, not for killing those men like I asked you, not even for the way you push me away. You did what you had to do, I understand that. Don't forgo sleep because of me."

"Sleep a while. I'll check on you later." He said gruffly.

"I will." She told him grabbing his pillow and holding it against her.

It wouldn't be the first time he slept in his pilot's chair nor would it be the first time he'd dreamed of her since their reunion. He looked at the sleeping form in his bed and thanked Imam's god that she was safe.

It was the first time that he noticed large droplets of blood down the hallway. Damn, he thought, but suddenly didn't care.


	27. Something's not quite right

"Good morning Riddick." Jack said quietly. There was no kiss, nor was there an immediate answer. In her hand she carried a steaming mug of coffee and watched him adjust the instruments. It was almost pitch black when she walked in and when she looked at him she knew something wasn't right.

"Lights ten percent." He said looking towards her. Something was different. She was too standoffish. He hated that fact but couldn't focus enough to figure out why. Something was wrong and he couldn't figure out why.

"Good morning Jack. Did you sleep well?" he asked his throat dry and his head was pounding.

"I did, but I would have been fine in my own bed." She told him standing on the side that obscured the wound that had been bleeding for hours. Sticky blood he could smell it, but didn't care. He wanted to drink but was too weak to stand. He felt that way for a few hours and realized something was wrong. It was all fucked.

"Jack." He croaked taking his mug in his hand. "I… nothing."

"Riddick, I thought you were going to sleep, you look exhausted." She asked looking at him realizing he wasn't himself. "Were you able to rest?"

"Don't worry about me." he snapped looking anywhere else but at her.

"But I do. I always have." She said trying to approach him. He just growled at her making her jump. "Maybe I shouldn't but that's my problem."

"You're making it hard kid." He growled his silver eyes glinting in the dimness.

"How is that, because I thought something happened when it really didn't?" she snapped glaring at him.

He vaulted out of the chair and stood towering over her. "Jack, you're not being fair."

"When is anything in this fucken life fair?" she shouted as his hold on her weakened.

_She's not gonna do us this way. Something happened. I know she knows I felt something. She felt it too, and it wasn't the fact that she could make me squirm. Why is the fucken room spinning? _

As tired as he was, the blood loss not helping, he stumbled. She pulled back and started to rail on him when he dropped to the floor. On all fours he looked up at her heaving ragged breaths coming. "Jack, stop!"

"Oh shit! Oh shit!" she repeated over and over. "Riddick what happened?"

"Skinny mother fucker cut me." he said sitting down and closing his eyes.

"And you didn't say anything until now? Are you a fucken idiot?" she yelled in his face. "Where are you cut?"

Then she looked down and saw his blood soaked arm. "Cover your eyes. Lights 100 percent. OH fuck!"

She looked at his pale face, ash compared to his normal color and the pilot's chair, covered in sticky dark blood. The trail ran down to a pool on the floor. "Let's get you to the med lab."

He went to get up. "Lights Jack! Lights." He wheezed. "Something's wrong, the blade…something…wrong."

She lifted him as best she could and dragged him down to the med lab. They made it just in time for him to pass out on the table. "Fuck!" she screamed putting his goggles on his eyes.

"Accessing Medical Diagnostic Program." She said in a loud clear voice.

"Good morning, how may I be of assistance?" It said in an antiseptic male computer generated voice.

"Run a level one diagnostic scan." She said as she straightened Riddick on the table. "Begin scan."

"Proceeding with level one scan." It said and Jack watched as a blue light started at his head and slowly methodically passed until it reached his feet. "Level one scan complete."

"Report." She said washing her hands.

"Patient, approximately 101 kg. Male, approximate age 30 years: level two laceration to upper left tricep, increased levels of white blood cells consistent with systemic bacterial infection, elevated amounts of phenrol hydrochloride. Blood volume 80, elevated body temperature 103.7 degrees."

Jack looked at the screen on the wall and watched as his stats appeared. "Define Phenrol hydrochloride." she asked as she cut part of his shirt off. His body was so still and he was unresponsive to her touching him. His breathing was erratic and she noticed his blood pressure was dropping.

She blanched looking at a cut at least five inches long and deep. She saw muscle and oozing blood which began to drip on the floor once it had pooled on the table. She packed with a sterile dressing and went over towards the cabinet picking out supplies and throwing them on a tray.

She moved back to him and took the rest of it off, and he twitched involuntarily.

"A slow acting poison. Primary phases include disorientation, poor motor coordination and elevated levels of lactic acid in major muscle groups. Secondary phases include hypoxia and death. Without antidote phenrol poisoning is fatal in 97 of all documented cases."

"Recommendations for male patient?" she asked getting an iv bag and needles.

"Intravenous antidote for phenrol poisoning, applicable antidotes on view screen, 1.5 liters of synthetic plasma, applicable antibiotic therapy on view screen, and twenty five lateral sutures to level two laceration of upper left bicep."

"Riddick." she said loudly and he moved. "Hey! Wake up Convict!" at this point she did anything she could to call him to consciousness.

"Where the fuck am I?" he asked trying to get up.

"Med lab. You need to sit still or this is going to hurt." She said getting the syringes.

"I'm fine Jack." He contended looking at her through his goggles and wanting nothing more than to get the hell of the table.

"Bullshit." She yelled in his face. "You're fucked and if I don't help you, you gonna die, you hear me? Now lay down and take it like a man or I'll be forced to do it the hard way." She said pointing over to the restraints.

"NO!" his voice boomed.

"Then be a good boy. I didn't score the highest marks in med class for nothing. You think I didn't think we'd need this? I knew we'd get into scrapes when you came back and I took every first aid and emergency training class I could find. Imam didn't seem to mind and if you lay down I'll take care of you." She said in a voice so forceful it screamed I dare you to fuck with me right now.

"I've got to run this IV line and pump your ass full of meds, that blade was poisoned and dirty. So you've got a problem. And you've lost a lot of blood. Let me help you or I swear you will regret ever saving my ass in the first place."

"I regret it already." He growled menacingly as she put the needle into his arm.

"Fuck you too." She purred trying to be quick. "There you big baby."

She ran a bag for plasma fast, then a saline one for the other meds and sat back down. The fluid was cold going in and he shivered as she moved to start stitching him up.

"Leave it Jack, I'll be fine." He glared his teeth chattering as she moved the packing away.

"And is this the charming part of your personality I've been warned about?" she smirked. "If you move, it'll look messy and I wouldn't want to mar that sexy arm now would I?"

"Sexy? OW FUCK Jack!" he snarled as the needle pierced his skin. "Pain killers would be nice Jack."

"And here I thought you were tough." She said sarcastically as she put a needle into his iv line. It took a minute and burned a little which made his face scrunch up. But once in she'd be able to do her work easily.

"I am tough, a lot tougher than you bitch." he said looking at her and growling. "And I thought that you had some feelings for me. Thought you fucken c-a-r-e-d." he said beginning to slur his words.

"Say hello to Mistress Morphine sweetheart." She told him smiling. _Bitch, he hasn't seen bitch, fuck with me Riddick, I dare you._

"W---o---w, now that's more like it." he said calmer, and with a smile.

"I do have feelings you moron, and if you had told me about the arm sooner you wouldn't be so screwed now." she told him as she beginning to stitch. "And Bitch? Don't fuck with me right now or you'll find out. Feeling better?"

"Hmm. Stitch away there you." he smiled. "I'm sorry. I should have said something."

"Feeling the love from Mistress Morphine?" she said smiling at him. Her hands shook but she stayed steady while she stitched and stitched.

"Oh yeah…but not as good as yours kid. You're beautiful did you know that?"

"You're just saying that because of the drugs Riddick." she answered as she made little stitches and occasionally watched the screen to look at his stats.

"No, I'm serious." he crooned, "so sexy, so touchable, and what an ass, that's a damn fine ass Jack. God I wanna touch it all the fucken time. A little here, a little there. Mmm. Love it when you sit on my lap."

Jack tried to concentrate but her face was so red that she felt hot with shame for his compliments, abliet given under the influence.

"And how do you figure that?" she asked using another set of suturing thread.

"Well, if I tell you then you'll get a big head and I couldn't deal with you so stuck up." He said in a loopy sing song voice.

"How come I still feel like shit Jack?" he asked slurred and she watched his head loll to one side. "Damn these drugs are good."

"Best in the cabinet. You were poisoned. You got cut and the bastard had a dirty knife. Even your incredible physique is not invincible Riddick."

"So I'm incredible now, oh you wait there princess, I'll show you incredible." He laughed coughing in the process.

"If you don't sit still there superman and I'll strap you down. Let me finish." She ordered.

"Whatever you say Doc. Are you almost done? I'm freezing my ass off."

"You're running a high fever there big guy. And yes, I'm all done, I'm just gonna clean you up and then we'll get a blanket."

"Sponge bath, how nice. You shouldn't have…"

"Jack?" he asked his face placid and smiling.

"What?" she said wiping the blood off his chest and arms.

"You're too good for a guy like me. You deserve better than a murderer." He admitted looking at her through his goggles.

"Shut up Riddick." she said pulling the blanket over his chest. "Is that better?"

He nodded and continued, "You should fine a nice man and settle down and make lots of babies. Have a garden, and a big comfie bed." He sighed looking at her like a puppy.

"Lights ten percent." She ordered and the med lab went dim, only showing the stats on the view screen.

"Pretty babies that will love you too." He finished.

"Riddick you really need to shut it." she said adjusting the plasma. She removed his goggles and smiled at him. "Sh." she said running her hand across his forehead and down his cheek. His purr was relieving to hear. "Rest a few minutes, let the medicine work."

"Jack, I wish I could be that guy." He whispered as his eyes began to close.

"Don't worry Riddick. You _are_ that guy. You just don't know it yet." She answered as she began to put the tray away.


	28. Sasha the leather bitch goddess

Sasha the leather bitch goddess

When Riddick woke, he was flat on his back and his whole body screamed. The pain behind his eyes was so fierce that he wondered if he'd been stuck out in the sun without his goggles for a month. "What the fuck?" he growled trying to lift his head off the soft pillow it laid on.

Jack slept against the table where he was laying, her head resting against his side, her face looking so peaceful that he stared for a few moments before speaking again. "Jack?" he croaked feeling his throat so dry that it burned.

"Hey you." she said sleepily. To Riddick she never looked so beautiful.

"How long have I been out?" he asked wincing at every movement.

"About 17 hours." She told him. "Close your eyes. Accessing level one diagnostics. Begin Scan."

"My pleasure Jack. Scan commencing." He heard as his body felt a slight tingling sensation.

"Scan complete. Oxygen levels normal. White blood count, still elevated but decreasing, plasma level normal, presence of phenrol hydrochloride negative, Temperature 100.7 degrees. He'll live Jack." It crooned in a sexy female voice. Jack's voice.

"Lights, twenty percent." She said and he tentatively opened an eye arching his eyebrow at her.

"That isn't my med computer is it?" he asked relaxing when she stroked his face.

"I got bored and modified its programming. Like it? Can you handle a sexy woman examining your manly bits? The other sounded too antiseptic." She said giving him a wicked grin. "Her name is Sasha, the leather bitch goddess."

"Sasha huh?" he said laughing. But laughing hurt his entire body so he stopped and closed his eyes.

"Good evening Riddick." she said kissing his forehead. "You slept the clock around."

"Good evening Jack." He said groaning in pain.

"Want something to ease the pain?" he nodded and she stuck the needle into his IV line.

After a few moments. "Better?"

"Yeah." He said sleeping a few minutes. She took the time to get something cool for his forehead and came back with some water in case he needed it.

In the time he had slept, she had stripped his boots and socks and left his pants on because that task would have been too awkward. She had debated removing the rest of his clothes for over an hour but gave up to clean the bridge and that job took her two hours.

When his eyes opened again he saw her staring back stroking his cheek. "Nice nap?"

"I don't nap Jack." He scowled.

"Grumpy is back I guess you're feeling better." She quipped and smiled. "Feel like something to drink? You look like shit."

Jack got off the stool and went to the cabinet for something when he put his good arm on her and held fast. "Don't go Jack. Thanks, for fixing me up. I mean it."

"It's all right. After this, we're going to move you to your bed where I can keep you warm and get you well, this table must be cold and hard as hell to sleep on."

"I've slept on worse." He said closing his eyes.

"Yeah, but you don't have to now and I need you well fast." She told him. "Doc's orders."

"Says who?" he argued.

"Sasha?" she asked.

"Yes Jack?" the computer answered sultry and enticing in her tone.

"How long should tall dark and handsome stay in bed?" she asked smirking at Riddick.

"At least three more days Jack, but I suggest a little longer, he's got to replenish red blood cells because synthetic blood is more for volume," She answered. "rather than for strength."

"Jack, you gave her AI didn't you?" he groaned in her direction.

"Fully free thinking. Reconfigured and better than ever Riddick." The computer announced. "Don't be afraid, I'm not. I am incapable of being afraid of you Riddick."

"Jack." He snapped. "I will-not argue with a computer."

"Then don't." Jack said smug. "Easy, she's programmed to only obey you and me. When others use her she will be just as the original programming intended. Can't fault me for having fun, can you?"

He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"I need you fully functional if you're going to be my Jabbar Haras." She explained.

"More fucking Arabic Jack, give me a break." He said sipping the glass she gave him.

"Most powerful bodyguard." She answered looking at him and sipping some coffee. He smiled and beamed a satisfied smirk at her. She held his hand and sipped her coffee with the other.

"Where's my cup?" he asked.

"Water for now, you." she said pointing at him. "Dehydration is a bitch."

"So, how long am I tied to that pole there Doc?" he yelled at the computer

"For as long as Jack says you are Riddick. She is in charge of you. I am just, how would you put it? A pain in the ass fucken machine." Crooned the med computer.

He laughed loudly and for a full two minutes. "You programmed her to be a smart ass?"

Jack only smiled.

"A few more hours should do it. I can give you the medication orally after that."

"You love this don't you?" he smirked. "Me flat on my back."

"I should say the same to you Riddick. Elevated hormone levels increased after you're saying that word Jack." Crooned the computer again.

"Shut up." They both shouted.

"As you wish." She answered and powered down.

"You've created a monster."

"Wait until you see the nav computer." She quipped and his eyes narrowed in a malevolent glare. "Kidding."

"Jack." He growled, his face softening.

"Come on, you can't expect me not to fuck with you when I clearly have the advantage."

"Says who?" he smirked grabbing her and pulling her towards him.

"Me big guy." She said smiling and running her fingers over his forehead.

"Hmm. Missed that." He purred.

"What my touch or the morphine I just plunged in your iv tube?" She said looking at his spike in blood pressure.

"Both thanks, I hate to ask but the pain is not fun." He answered face slack and his eyes glassy.

"The antidote to the poison is doing that. The side effects are painful, but you'll live. You realize we'll have to start working out pretty hard when you're better. The poison tears down your muscles a bit. You'll have to work out the lactic acid in them to get powerful again."

"Fine. I can handle that. The fact is I will be able to do that. Thanks to you. What happened?" he said chatty and she loved it. Talking Riddick was better than brooding Riddick any day of the week.

"When you killed the mercs, the blade was poisoned with phenrol hydrochloride. When he sliced you before you killed him, it entered your blood stream. Sasha thinks that he laced it some time ago and hadn't used it, or if he did he did not clean it and therefore, along with the poison you had millions of bacteria running through your bloodstream at the speed of light. By the way, did you make him scream or was I hallucinating that?"

"You weren't." he said in a low growl. He didn't want to remember that night. It was dark and he felt pulled to feel that darkness even now.

"I stitched you up, on threat of the bit mind you, which you nearly jumped me for." She told and he winced.

She knew his deathly aversion to restraints and used that tactic well. It's what he would have done in the same circumstances. "Then, you passed out again. Enough said." She told him looking anywhere but his face.

"Jack?" he groaned shutting his eyes. _Oh fuck I said something. Shit, I made it worse._

"You were very chatty while I stitched you up. Especially after a few doses of Mistress Morphine."

His good hand covered his face and rubbed it. "What exactly did I say?"

He wanted to be anywhere but there at that particular moment and she was enjoying the squirming. "Well, shall we start with, the discussion surrounding _your_ skills, _my_ ass, the use of those skills _on_ my ass, or the fact that those skills could be used _while_ touching my ass?"

"I did not." _Please tell me I didn't say that. _

"Well, outside of that fact that you had a very detailed discussion surrounding my _damn fine ass_, you suggested—"

_I did say that… I cannot believe she's fucking with me like this. Damn Jack you're cruel. And I couldn't be more proud._

"I don't want to hear another word." He said closing his eyes again.

"Riddick?" she asked tapping his forehead.

"What?" he growled obviously incredibly embarrassed.

"I'm fucking with you." she told him and he sighed with palpable relief. "You said I was beautiful."

"You are." He admitted. _And smart, quick on your feet, stubborn, sexy, very sexy, intoxicating to look at, fuckable, okay I need to stop here._

"And that I should settle down and make pretty babies." _I did not say that. Fuck I can't believe I told her that…_

He suddenly remembered an image from the night before of him seeing them together on a beach, far from mercs and pilgrims watching some kids play in the sand. "What else did my mouth decide and volunteer?"

"The rest I chalk up to the morphine. Sit tight there you." she smirked. She removed the needle from his arm and gave him a squeeze. "Wanna get outa here?"

"Sure, just as soon as the room stops spinning."


	29. Flat on my back, and I ain’t complaining

I haven't felt this weak in a very long time. And the pain, now that was another story. The first thing I noticed besides the fact that she had pulled me down a forty foot hallway, and she's about a hundred thirty pounds, but she lifted me onto the table, and ran better triage then most battlefield medics.

She smells like vanilla again. Man that smell gets me going every time, but back to what I remember. It's all still fuzzy…

I remember her yelling at me. I remember pain, then her voice, soft and comforting. When the hell did I get this lucky?

"Ready?" she asks me as she helps me sit up. Fuck the world is spinning again. "It's the poison, it's affected your neurological functions. Close your eyes it'll pass."

"What the hell else is supposed to do?" I growl.

"It was supposed to kill you smart ass and you should be grateful it didn't." Okay she had me there, she's right and I'm not gonna push it. I'm to weak to try that.

It takes us forever to reach my room and damn she cleaned it. "Damn Jack, those old crones really taught you to be a regular cleaning lady." I say cause even though I'm down I'm not out.

"Remember Riddick, that's not all they taught me." she smirks, yeah baby I know…

"Aw look, you fluffed my pillows…Yeah I didn't forget…tongue kissing girls, shaking that ass, and yes you have a damn fine ass Jack, and how to relax a man…" I tell her as she sits me on the edge of the bed. "The whole making out with a girl is definitely a turn on Jack. I couldn't _not_ say that."

I'm suddenly fucken exhausted and every muscle is screaming. "Want help to the bathroom I've put clean clothes, a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, your fever might rise again, I'd put it on." She says turning on the light. "I'll be right back."

It takes me twenty fucken minutes to take a piss and change. By the time she gets back I'm leaning against the door ready to drop. I want to finish that comment on the dancing thing and but the room is spinning again, "Help."

I hate asking for help but this is Jack and we're partners. Jack I can handle. She helps me to sit on the bed, and I say with a completely straight face, "Damn fine show at the club Jack, damn fine.."

I had to go there, and cop a feel as she's trying to get me into bed.

"Watch it buster or I'll complain to management." She quips. God I love this woman for putting up with that comment. "Oh, you loved it when I danced with one didn't you?"

"Uhuh Jack, that was fucken amazing. Her touching your ass, feeling you up. Hot."

"Which do you prefer, watching, or _not_ watching?" she asked pulling the blankets up to my waist and easing me down like a baby.

"Definitely _not_ watching." I say and squeeze my eyes shut. "I shouldn't have said that."

She's asking me if I wanted to kiss her and this is not what I want to talk about but fucking with her is so much fun. I've got to keep her safe and fucking her isn't doing that. She's got to know I'm an animal and can't be trusted.

"Why? I'm a hot bitch right?" she says and I know she's remembering what the mercs said the other night. "Why shouldn't you? I've been programmed to please, to entice, to tease. It's only _normal_ for a man to respond to that."

"Jack." I try and say to calm her down. She's been through a lot and she's coming down off the adrenaline. _This is not how I wanted to talk about this. Shit._

She's freaking out now. I understand why, she's had to be strong, and not think about what happened and now that she knows I'm gonna be all right she's freaking out. It happens. "Really? Is there something fucking wrong with me? I mean other than the fact that I've been constantly fucking told that I'm either not fucking good enough, too fucking good or so fucking good that I wouldn't be fit for anything fucking meaningful. What's worse is that no matter how fucking hard I seem to try nothing fucken works right and I've about fucking had it."

She's screaming and not really paying attention to what she's saying.

"Jack." I say padding the bed and watch as she plops down beside me ready to ball her eyes out. I'm about this close to breaking out hysterical. "Did you realize in that little pissy fit you said "fuck" nine times?"

She looks at me with a face I can only describe as bordering on maniacal. "Shut up. You made me like this."

"Me? Aw Jack come on. Fucking is just the beginning of the fun." I say, laughing at her.

"Jack come here." I say in a quiet, calm voice. My foster mother used to use it when she wanted to make a point and no offense to hysterical Jack, I need her to listen. "Let me tell you something."

"What?" she says exhausted.

"You kiss just fine." I tell her, and honestly it's better than fine. It's fantastic, but right now she's looking for the simple answer. "Better than fine."

"You don't mean that. It was all a game. Every fucken thing is." She tells me and I know she's wondering if all that shit the other night was just bullshit.

I had to think about it for a while but by the time I realized it wasn't the poison had made me pretty fucked up.

I can see it in her eyes. She's gonna bolt and go inward. Not this time princess. "Hey. Don't go, I'm not finished."

I might not have a whole lot of strength but I'm gonna make a point. The hand I have that works grabs her and my lips touch hers very gently. She is shocked I'm strong enough to do this and when mine touch hers, her sigh is all the encouragement I need. Man she missed me, her heart is beating fast, I can tell because my hand is cupping her face and my palm feels it like a drum beat.

She like it, and I'm not one to disappoint. Her moan against me is thanks enough and I think I've made my point. "I kissed you last night," I say alternating kissing her neck and throat, "because, yes it was convenient, but also," then I nip her ear lobe, which is my personal favorite cause it makes her squirm so easily. "because I wanted to. Damn Jack I've wanted to for a fucking long time."

Suddenly I'm as weak as a damn baby again.

"Okay." She says completely flustered. I love doing that. Makes them wonder what the hell just happened. "Okay then. I'm gonna clean the med lab now, and be back. Want anything?"

"I could drink something and rest, you wore me out." I have to say cause its true and however that may suck I won't lie.

"Right," she smiles. "Like I believe that. Remember something for me." she asks and she's got that wicked I'm gonna fuck with you grin.

"Sure kid." I say waiting for the smart ass comment.

"When I wear you out, you'll know it."

"Promises, promises." I quip. _Damn if that didn't feel good._


	30. Bedside Vigil

He woke sometime later to the sound of her humming. He had been dozing again, the medication and his weakness kept him in a sort of dream land. Occasionally he felt her near, quiet and ever present, and there were other times when the demons would come, frightening, dark and calling to him and he would be alone. Each time he would wake from a dream terrifying and so real, she would be there to soothe him.

"Hey," she smiled sitting in a chair next to the bed. She put down her book, the only one she had brought with her and sat on the edge of the bed. "The fever is up. I was worried. You shouted in your sleep again."

"It's hot." He croaked. His head pounded, his body shook and all he wanted to do was die.

"You're feverish. I'll get some water and something to help bring it down."

"I'll be fine Jack." He said taking her hand. "Stay."

"Sure." She replied worried and silent.

"You're pretty good at the doctoring thing aren't you?" he said his throat scratchy and his voice rougher than usual.

"I guess. I had nothing else to occupy my mind while you ran all over the galaxy avoiding that price on your head." She said stroking his arm. "I wanted to make sure we had something to fall back on in case we got into something sticky.

"You did it for us?" he asked his face pale and sweaty. Her hand reached a cloth and wiped the sweat from it and his eyes closed enjoying the coolness of the water.

"Yeah, you took care of me, even though I knew it took a little pushing, and I thought I would return the favor." She answered patting his face dry. "There, good as new. Sasha says a few more days of the anti toxin and all residual traces of the poison will be gone. Even though your tests are negative, it's still in all the major muscle groups. The anti toxin is worse than the poison I think… The side effects are a bitch. The infection, on the other hand, is another story. It went systemic, and that isn't good."

"I've never been so fucked up." He admitted looking at her. "Made a mistake. Should have killed them fast."

"Sh." she told him. "Don't think about that now. Rest. Your body needs to fight and you talking isn't helping."

"I've spent my whole life running Jack. I'm tired." he told her as his eye lids drooped.

"I know. Soon, we'll find a place where you won't have to run ever again." she told him sitting back down in her chair.

"Okay." He slurred as the sleep of the sick overtook him.

I've lost track of time, and that isn't good. Jack's singing again, God I love her voice. When I was asleep I could hear her humming, talking, reading to herself, singing when she thought I was completely out. Her voice keeps pulling me back to wakefulness.

My face is rough, days must have passed because I need a shave.

"It's about time sleepy head." She says standing in the doorway. "Lights twenty percent."

Good morning to you princess. "Sleepy head? What am I five?" I ask, my head pounding again.

She's giving me the 'don't be a smart ass' look. Good luck, kid…I'm back and you better watch out.

I'm trying to sit up, and I may need to rethink the "I'm back" thing. "No, but my mom used to say that to me, so don't fuck with me when_ I_ say it." she says and I notice she's wearing her dancing clothes. Damn I need to get out of this bed.

I'm always amazed at how that skirt that looks so frumpy on those women back on Hellion Prime, but so damn sexy on her. She smells like she's had a workout and it's sweet and salty at the same time. Tasty… "Dancing again?" I quip and my mind returns to her that time I caught her dancing.

"Maybe." She snips as she smiles. "Gotta practice, or I'll get rusty. Plus, with you out of commission, I had free reign in the gym to wiggle my ass without interruption."

"Baby, you can dance for me anytime." I say and I mean it, anytime, anywhere anyplace.

"And where would that get you except in need of a cold shower, or maybe some private _one on one time_." She tells me leaning over me to check the bandage.

"Lean over me like that princess and you'll find out." I say staring at that fine ass of hers.

"That is what is known as an _empty_ threat." She says looking at me smiling smugly.

Ouch. Damn she's good.

I have to go there though, I just can't leave _that_ hanging. "Really?" I say in that low voice she loves to hear. "Wanna find out?"

"Take your best shot. I'm here all week." She says not moving. "Let's see how far you get."

Then I feel pain again, a burning in my arm when I notice she's shot me up again. "Jack!" I growl trying to move. I'm gonna lift my head and move to grab her. I know I can, and she watches as my body moves towards her.

Giggle, princess I dare you.

Fuck! The room is spinning again and my whole body is screaming. "What the hell was in that?"

"Anti toxin, pain killers, vitamins and antibiotics. No more morphine for you." she announces. "You're too weak to go grabbing your nurse." She's giving me shit now. Typical. "Who I might add saved your life."

"Meds never made me this fucken weak." I snap attempting to grab her anyway.

She's got that look in her eye and I know she's gonna start bitching. Should have kept my fucken mouth shut. By the way, when I tried to get her, I missed and started falling out of the bed, the room spinning like a top faster and faster.

I'm pathetic.

"Riddick, contrary to popular belief you lost twenty percent of your blood volume, from a blade that had so much bacteria on it that it could have killed any _normal_ man. Did I mention that it had one of the most deadly poisons on it? Did you know that there was enough bacteria on it to kill any _normal_ man within hours? Must have slipped my mind." She says railing on me. "Plus the last time you ate was about three days ago. Go figure that would make anyone a little woozy."

Okay, I can see her point. But Jack smiles, and helps me back into bed. "Jack? Are you trying to tell me I'm not normal?"

"Yeah, but you shouldn't worry, normal equals boring…" she asks and I look down and my hand is on her ass. "Pervert, get back into the bed."

I give her a toothy grin and I call it a win.

"Three days since I ate last? Then feed me woman." I growl and her smile lights up the room. "I need my strength." _To pounce you good…_

I'm not denying it any longer. I want her, need her and that scares the shit out of me. But I'm so tired now I can't seem to concentrate on that. Damn these meds are strong.

"That's all I'm good for? Cooking, cleaning, and stitching your ass up?" she smirks wiping my face with a cloth.

"No, teasing me wearing that skirt, keeping me up nights." I quip, sorry I had to fuck with her just a little.

"Me a tease? You're kidding. Do I have to mention the club?" she says putting her hands on her hips.

"Sure, but I could mention you dancing with that redhead, and then some." I tell her, I was so hard it hurt to fucken sit.

"Okay, point taken but what about you and the mercs? Sitting me on your lap…and…and" She's getting pissed at me cause she remembers how I made her feel and she's trying to make me feel guilty.

That's not gonna happen. I'm giving her the same flustered face she's giving me just to piss her off. With my options limited, I do what I can… "Just shut mouth Riddick."

"Or what?" I quip leaning against the headboard with a nice pillow behind me. King of the beasts. "You and you're long list of skills. You're supposed to see to my needs. Feed me…" _Dance for me, fuck me, love me, smile for me._

"I guess I won't tell you then that when I dance, I never wear underwear." She tells me leaving the room.

"You're still a tease." She shouts from the hallway.

Fuck, how does she keep doing that?

* * *

"Where's that food Jack?" he shouted from his room, just to get her angry.

"Keep your pants on there you." she said carrying a tray with medication on it and something to drink.

"I would but you took them away." He snapped looking around. Riddick had never spent a sick day in bed in his life and his incapacitation was something that for him was a kin to a cage.

"What a lovely bedside manner." She said placing the tray down. "Well, I guess that the fact you can get up and move around now is too much to ask?"

He growled at her. "Your bark is worse than your bite Riddick."

"I've killed people for less." He snapped.

"Stop! You're scaring me…" she said in mock fear. "Shower and get back into bed so you can eat. Remember I can cook, so let's get you moving. Then you can get stronger and get out of that bed. I figure you might want to feel more _human_ and this will give me a chance to change the linen. Trust me, you'll feel much better once you clean up, I know you'd be doing me a favor. You need a bath."

She helped him stand, waiting for a few moments so that his head would stop spinning, then she left him to take care of himself. "I'll be here if you need me."

"I'm not a child Jack. I've been worse off before. OUT!" he snapped holding onto the door frame,

"As you wish." She said flatly.

He growled even worse. He hated the fact that he could make her go inward. "Jack."

"I know, now move your ass or no food." She smirked removing his sheets and blanket.

It took him a while but when he emerged, he had shaved his face and head, brushed his teeth and washed several days of fever sweat from his body. He had a fresh set of sweats and a shirt on and barely made it to the bed before falling fast asleep.

His last thoughts as sleep pulled him towards the abyss was that she was cooking and it smelled like heaven.


	31. Room Service

Lunch? Dinner? I can't tell what time of the day it is but one thing I know, I smell food. So that was the smell that woke me up. That, and her singing. You'd think I'd be sick of that, but she's got a great voice. When I left her on Hellion Prime with holy man, I had no idea she'd grow up so… perfect.

Man, I groan looking around and cursing myself. I can't believe this, I'm flat on my back and weak as a kitten. How the hell did I let _that_ happen?

_Caused you played with them before you killed them you asshole. _The beast tells me.

"Hey, don't try and get out of the bed too fast." Jack tells me as she walks in with a tray full of food. On it is fresh bread, coffee and a bowl of steaming hot soup with meat and vegetables. I must be dead or in heaven cause it smells delicious.

She puts it down and checks my pulse. "I'm still here kid, stop fussing."

That gets me a smirk and a kiss, on the lips I might add. The day is getting better every second. "Hey."

"Hey." I answer. Man I need to get out of this damn bed. Jack's got those black pants on and she's let's just say, very distracting. She needs to get more clothes that do that, ones that hug all those curves I didn't think about all the time I was gone.

Hell if I'm not thinking about it now.

"Brought you something to help you get stronger. Sasha says you're over the worst of it and that you need to get moving soon."

That's the best news I've heard all day.

She places the tray on my lap and I'm gonna get spoiled rotten if she keeps this up. "Jack," I say inhaling the aroma of the foods in front of me, "had I known that you could cook like this, I'd of gotten more fresh food." I tell her.

Damn, she's fantastic. "And kept you in the kitchen where all the women folk belong."

I had to go there just to see that face.

The warm liquid is going down and I'm feeling satisfied. Damn it feels like ages since I ate last. Not that I've haven't been hungry before. I have, but this feels good.

"Hardly, knowing you, I'd be flat on my back with the veil on my face crying…Harder, deeper baby, oh yes-oh-yes! FASTER!"

Now that's not fair, she's mocking me now rocking against the headboard. _That_ will come soon enough.

She's laughing. I can't help but smile. "You're making fun of me. That's gonna get you punished. And princess, when I have you flat on your back I want you looking right here," I say pointing to my eyes. "I want to watch you when I make you scream my name."

Take that Jack and see where that's gonna take you.

She goes to say something, but stops herself. That's right Jack, leave that alone while you can. I want to keep fucking with her but this food is too good and I'm starving.

"I'm glad you like the stew. Cooking is one of my favorite past times. Remember that payday? There's that list of reasons why he wants me so badly."

I got a list of my own. But I'm gonna ignore her right now. Food is now all important.

"A long list, I'm getting that Jack. There's one thing on that list is what he's never gonna get." _His hands on you…_ "Damn Jack this is good. Is there anything you're bad at?"

"Trust." She says and there the entire conversation has gone serious. "Obedience."

Well I could have told you that. But then again she's never _had _to 'obey' me. I know she'll do what I say cause she knows it's gonna save her life, but I've never made her _do_ anything. Trust, for the two of us has never been an issue, and I hope it never will be.

"Obedience was the worst. I've been bad." She admits and blushes like a kid, hey, she still is and I keep forgetting that. _She's all grown up…._ "I've been a naughty girl cause I break rules I shouldn't. I hate to be forced to obey, ask me and I have no problem (most times) but force me and you can fuck off."

"Nice mouth princess. I told you that I'd rub off on you." I remind her drinking the coffee. Her laughter is about as good as the food. It fortifies me for the next thing I want to talk about.

"Jack, I wanna talk about the other night. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was covered in blood, and feeling well, more of the animal in me than I wanted to admit, and you shouldn't see that."

I can't seem to look at her. Somehow I feel ashamed and that feels so wrong.

She takes the tray. I ate every single thing on it and I'm full. She sits beside me and smiles shyly. "Riddick," she says taking my hand, "it's part of who you are. I know that. I'm not afraid. You _can't_ scare me." she tells me looking at me with a bold honest eye.

What a relief. I don't want to be afraid of me, ever. It would kill me not to be able to be myself around her. "You amaze me." I admit looking at her, my sliver eyes glinting in the dim light.

"Why, I'm nothing special. Bet you have a dozen nubile sexually attractive women waiting on your _every _need."

How can she say that? I've never heard anyone care about me, never had anyone believe in me either. She's damn special and needs to know it.

But she's funny as hell when she tries to deny what I think she realizes. My poker face is shitty around her and she knows it. "You see, I say something nice, and you go and get all stuck up about it." I tell her in mock disgust.

"You talk in your sleep there man o mine." She tells me kissing my forehead. "Good no fever."

She did not just say that shit to me. "What?"

"You were very interesting while unconscious. Would you like a play by play?"

"No I would not." I groan closing my eyes. I'm so fucked right now. What the hell could I have possibly said to her? Shit.

_How about, I love you and can't wait to get you naked. Then find a desert island and have you all to myself forever. _My beast growls.

Shut up.

_Fuck you dickey boy, she's got your number._

Did I just say that out loud cause she's laughing her ass off at me? Damn I'm so fucked.

"What's so funny?" I growl.

"Your face, God I had you going so bad." She says nearly falling off the bed. I grab her with my good arm and pull her towards me and hold her face inches from my own.

"Jack, when I get out of this bed, you're gonna get it." _I'm gonna spank your ass then rip those… _I need to start thinking with big head now…

"Promises, promises." She says as my lips crush hers in a kiss that gives her the impression that I'm not gonna have her wait for long. Good, I need to get better fast.

* * *

Three days passed with no break in the routine. Jack would bring Riddick food and medicine, and he would sleep and bitch about being stuck in bed. She relented on the second day and allowed him free access to the mess where they would watch movies together and he would at least have a change of scenery.

"Jack?" he asked one night when she'd sat with him watching Aliens again, that being one of his favorites. When she didn't answer he just watched her sleep, snuggled against his chest. Since New London, he'd never gone to sleep without her near and he realized that that wasn't going to change, ever again.

"Riddick?" she said sleepily looking up at him. "Is it over yet?"

"No, go back to sleep." He told her knowing if she found out he was much stronger than pretended, all this petting and nursing would come to an end. And for some reason, this closeness was something he didn't want to give up.

On the fifth day, Riddick's strength had returned and he actually felt up to a little more than she'd let him. He'd gone to the med lab and had Sasha give him a check up.

"Good morning Riddick, what can I do for you today?" she asked, his mind hearing Jack and smiling.

"Give me good news Sasha. I'm tired to being an invalid." He snapped.

"Well, all your vitals are normal and you may remove the sutures if you desire." She said sweetly. "Where is Jack?"

"Asleep. She's exhausted." He told the computer as he snipped the black cord from his skin. "Am I fit to return to duty?"

"Yes, Riddick, and to Jack." She said and he could have sworn he could feel her smiling. "She's been very emotional while you've been incapacitated."

"I know." He gruffed as a stitch pulled against his skin. "Thanks, for the warning."

He showered and went to the mess, finding it dark and empty. He hadn't realized how much work it took to keep the ship running, clean and how much energy it took to take care of him.

It felt good to be dressed, shaved and strong again. But his muscles occasionally betrayed the fact that it could be weeks before he was himself. He checked the log and they were four days out of Meterora system, where he knew of seven planets they could hide in forever.

But he'd always be looking over his shoulder and that was _not_ the life he wanted for them.

He remembered the other evening, when she had crawled into his bed exhausted and over tired. He laughed to himself recounting the request to have her with him every night, even though his only thought was carnal and not as it should have been.

It had been a good long while since he woke up next to a woman, if he ever had, and it was something of a fantasy to have Jack be _that_ woman.

For years he never thought he deserved anything so remotely pure and good, that he was a worthless animal. But she gave him that hope, that someday he might be worthy of her.

"_How long will I be stuck in this fucken bed?" _he asked feeling edgy and restless.

"_Another day." _She said pulling up the blankets._ "I'm gonna shower, I'll be back in a bit."_

"_Jack?" _he remembered asking feeling like a fool._ "Stay with me? You'll sleep better if you do." _He asked knowing that the argument was lame and that he wanted to shout that he like feeling her near him.

_**Like she's gonna believe that** _his beast growled_. Shut up, I'm trying here. _He countered.

"_Maybe, if you you're good. Sleep now, big guy." _She ordered swaying her hips in the distance making him desirous for her company.

He remembered dozing, then feeling her slip underneath the sheets. She settled down next to him and in the darkness he opened his eyes, watching her get comfortable. _"Thank you. I've gotten used to you being here and I kinda like it."_

"_You know you love it. I forgot to give you your good night kiss." _She said playfully looking at him stare at her.

"_I got other places you can put that you know." _He purred daring her to answer him.

"_I have no doubt of that. Can I ask you something?" _she asked kissing him chastely and settling back down. _"Am I still off limits or do you think it's because I can't handle you?"_

"_You handle me just fine Jack." _He whispered back._ "Go to sleep."_

"_Don't want to. I want to talk to you. It's been so quiet since we left New London and I'm going nuts."_

He smiled and answered her,_ "Okay what do you want to talk about?" _pulling her against him. He put his arm around her and rested his tired face against her ear, inhaling the vanilla and jasmine.

"_Physics." _She said quietly

"_Physics. You want to talk about physics?" _he asked laughing against her. The low rumble felt like shock waves through her body.

"_The laws of attraction actually."_

"_Ah," _he answered pulling her closer to him in an attempt to stop her wiggling against his hips._ "Theory or practical application?" _when she wiggled more he groaned sending more shock waves through her body.

"_It depends."_

"_On what Jack?" _he asked tracing small circles on her stomach.

"_If the attraction is mutual or if it's one sided. According to the theory, one sided attraction tends to repel as opposed to attract. Mutual attraction works the best."_

He growled and turned her over. His hips pinned her and she opened her eyes and found him staring at her. _"Jack I'm gonna make you pay for that."_

"_What?" _she asked innocently, feeling the not so innocent result of her constant wiggling.

"_Only you can make science about sex." _he growled looking at her, staring at her mouth.

"_Well, if you put it **that** way, I guess the attraction is mutual." _She said giggling a bit, just to make it worse_. "Or am I mistaken?"_

The drawstring pants she wore were thin and she felt him against her even through the fabric._ "When I get better, and that's gonna be soon Jack, you're in for it." _he demanded kissing her neck.

"_Promises, promises." _She quipped as she looked down at him smiling. His lips found hers and teased her into a frantically erotic set of penetrating kisses. His growl was all the encouragement she needed and shortly he began to pant. His head drooped and she could tell he was dizzy._ "That's a switch, you getting dizzy instead of me."_

"_I_ _make _you_ dizzy?"_

"_Absolutely! The 'sun can supernova and I could care less" kind of dizzy. Now, Riddick, as much fun as this is, you need your rest. The longer it takes for you to heal the longer…"_

She tried to squirm onto her side of the bed but he held her fast._ "Don't move. Jack I mean it or you may make me do something I'll regret."_

She ran her hands down his neck and teased the sensitive skin on his collarbone. He groaned and lowered his head. _"And that is?"_ she asked kissing the side of his cheek. Her lips moved to his and he couldn't think straight, he wanted nothing more than to dive into her.

"_Disappoint you."_ he groaned knowing his own strength was non existent. He had the will, and his sex drive was clearly working but no stamina meant bad performance. Jack's first time would not be shitty because of bad performance. She deserved something good and he wanted to deliver that.

"_Oh that_," she scoffed as his cheek descended to the fabric of her tank top. His eye spied her breast and he knew that he wanted a taste, no matter what. _"Well, I could chalk that up to comparing it with the 5 minute man back on Hellion Prime."_

His voice reverberated against her chest, _"Never mention him in my bed again Jack._" He ordered his lips a breath away from that succulent orb he'd been coveting for weeks.

He rubbed his cheek against her, as if to tease, purring like the big cat he was when content. _"Gotcha. Riddick?"_

A few moments went by and nothing. _"Riddick?"_

She smiled and rubbed his shoulders. He had fallen asleep laying on her breast. What he did not remember, was her smile, or the words. _"Soon Riddick, soon."_

After he removed the sutures he looked at the scar red and angry in the mirror. "Nice job kid."

He spent an hour looking over the star charts, and planet dossiers and felt better than he'd felt in a while. When he reached the mess again, she sat there reading a book. "It lives." She announced smiling. "Good morning Riddick," she said attempting to kiss his cheek. He turned at the last second and kissed her lips letting her know that he was back to his old self. "Wow, you must be feeling better."

"Thanks to you and you're long list of skills." He said sitting down. "You know where we are?"

"Crab Nebula, I think we're close enough to put down if you want some real air. There's a planet a few hours south if I remember,."

"No, I don't want to take any chances. You look tired." He noticed and felt a bit of guilt.

"I'm fine Riddick. I'm better. With you flat on your back, I've had a lot of time to think."

"Good or bad?" he asked looking at her.

"That depends," She replied looking at him. "on you."

"Well, you know me." he said smiling.

"I do, and as long as I'm not a liability, you'll stick around." She said defensive and unsure.

"What happened Jack?" he asked taking her hands to stop her from getting up.

"Nothing. I just realized that you being sick was just an excuse." She told him, "for me to delude myself."

She was flighty, and agitated and he knew it. "Jack, hey this is me and that pushing away bullshit isn't gonna fly."

"Have I lied to you?" he asked suddenly angry. How could she even think he had felt nothing?

"No, but then again, you don't have to." She said looking away.

"Are you _trying_ to piss me off?" he asked his feelings very close to the surface.

"No, but that's just how it is. You get what you want and then it's well whatever."

"Is that the shit you think I'm gonna pull?" he asked looking at her like she'd grown a second head.

"Isn't that what you _all_ do?"

So there was the entire argument. Trust again. He thought hers for him was absolute, and he realized that it was except for in this particular area. "Jack. I'm not gonna hurt you."

"You say that now."

"I say that period."

"But Riddick." She asked as his hand began to massage her wrist. "Stop that."

"Why? I know you like it." he crooned scooting next to her and putting her in his lap. "And I know you like this." He said making her straddle him.

"That's besides the point." She told him looking away.

"That's exactly the point." He told her rubbing her calves. The skirt she wore was one of her favorites and he used that to his advantage. "What happened between you and I over the passed two weeks was gonna happen and I'm not gonna pretend that it didn't. Are you?"

"No." she said suddenly ashamed because he was distracting her. "But…"

"Jack, I'll be fine." He said suddenly realizing why she was pulling back. She worried he would leave her, whether it was voluntarily or other wise.

"I know that." she finally admitted playing with his shirt. He wanted her to stop dwelling on this. "Stop squirming I want to check you're arm."

"Jack, I don't squirm." He announced in a booming playful voice. He did, however seem to be enjoying her squirm. "It's fine Jack. I'm a big boy."

"I know I'm just being fussy again." She said in a small fragile voice.

"You do nice work." He told her as she inspected his arm. "I like fussy, sometimes. It_ m_akes me feel like I'm loved and adored." He said smiling at her.

"Loved and adored my ass! You hate it." she said as he stared down at her breasts that were right below his chin. "Eyes back in your head convict. "

"Ouch… that was mean Jack" he said in mock distress. "My eyes are fine right where they are." he said never looking up at her.

"Do you like making me uncomfortable?" she asked trying to move off him.

"Sometimes." He answered and got a playful smack on his good arm. "You asked, and I won't lie. Sometimes I enjoy the shit out of it. Tell me you don't."

She couldn't lie either but she'd be damned is she'd tell him then. "You're still wearing those frumpy ass skirts. You," he said putting his hands on her bare thighs, causing her to sigh loudly," need something that shows these legs, and," he said bravely cupping her perfect cheeks, "this off. I can't," he said shifting because he was close enough to imagine what that would be like to really see her, 'imagine these naked quite as easily."

Her moan, quietly gave him his answer. "I don't have much else. But then again, you _did_ remind me that if I needed anything you'd get it for me."

"True, so how about we put down, get what you want, and then get more fresh food? You're cooking has me spoiled and we're running out. Then once, properly dressed I can grab hold and imagine away."

"Deviant, and here I thought you were a perfect gentleman." She answered her breathing ragged because his hands started to become occupied by teasing her thighs. "A nice man, who I cold have babies with on a planet, free of uh mercs. Stop that Riddick. With my own, garden."

Now his eyes closed because he suddenly did remember his mouth losing the ability to keep shut. He groaned and continued to touch her. "You uh, don't seem to mind grabbing, mm now."

"Naked is a whole different story." He purred against her neck.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She said feeling his fingers creep up towards no man's land.

"Every minute, of every day princess." He said kissing her collar bone.

"Horny pervert." She said as he stopped just short of the prize.

"Adeni." He whispered against her cheek as his lips grazed it.

"In my defense, I didn't asked to be named that." she said as his arms surrounded her in an embrace meant to claim her as his. She sighed loudly and snuggled against him.

"I know. And you didn't _want_ to be a boy either. You know you couldn't be a boy, not in this life or any other. Jack, how much did I say when I was sick?" he asked nipping her ear lobe lazily.

The ability to concentrate was tenuous and Jack replied with a voice not above a whisper and very stilted. "A lot, mm you should really, mm stop Riddick. You're gonna, uh, over" she said feeling his hands stroke her shoulders, "exert yourself."

"Don't worry about me Jack." He crooned.

"Did you think I'd be this girlie?" she asked stroking his head.

"No, but it was a nice surprise. Not, that it would have mattered. You meant something to me and being gorgeous was just an added bonus." He said running his fingers through her hair and smiling.

She blushed. No one had ever told her she was beautiful, not that way. "How long before we can land this ship?"

"About ninety minutes." He said wanting nothing more than to pick her up and walk her into his bed. "You agree to go and buy some decent clothes?"

"Buy food, is more like it. You need your strength. I mean you ate just about everything we bought. Big appetite huh?"

"Voracious." He purred in her ear. She blushed again and let him play with her hair some more.

"Told you I could cook." She affirmed sitting up straighter and attempting to move off his lap.

"A few hours shouldn't hurt." He said getting up with her. "We're still the Carmichaels and we haven't used their idents or credit chips."

"Never pegged you as a 'shopper'." She smirked as he took her hand and led her to the bridge "A domesticated predator, now that's a laugh."

"Never, just content with my mate." He remarked his voice betraying little but pure possessiveness.

"Oh, is that what I am now?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Get used to it Jack, I'm not letting you out of my sight. Not now, not ever." He grinned looking at her with the beast pounding his chest.

"When did this happen?" she asked stunned by his admission.

"T2." Was all he said until they landed.


	32. You keep what you love

To all that have reviewed, THANK YOU

To Riddick's Sita: We all wish we were Jack

To Rose, SMUT IS COMING

To all that have patiently awaited the moment of supreme nakedness.

Adult situations and naked people are in this chapter, so please put your trays in the upright position and enjoy the ride.

WAIT NO LONGER

BEWARE THERE IS SEX IN THIS CHAPTER: all those who squeem go read something esle.

Review away, and thanks for sticking by, I know three chappies in one day. I'm on vacation and am visiting family for the holidays.

* * *

She dressed in the manner of a pilgrim which chaffed Riddick immediately.

"Don't argue with me. The less they see my face the better Mr. Carmichael." She said walking behind him a step. Her deeply veiled face was annoying to him because her face was so beautiful to look at. The long skirt and deep colored coat covered whatever womanly features he had come accustomed to staring at.

"Jack, this is stupid." He said standing close to her.

"No it isn't really. Imam told me that the more radical pilgrims believe that the beauty of their women is a private pleasure, not for the eyes of others. That it is their right and privilege to be able to look and touch, and not to incite other to do the same. I think it's bullshit myself but you have to admire their possessiveness. Imagine that man," she said demurely pointing in the direction of one of the merchants. "watching me naked on _your_ bed touching myself, watching me writhe on your sheets pleasuring my own body. How would you feel then?"

"He'd be dead in about a second and a half."

"See that's my point." She said smiling her eyes showing her triumph.

"Jack, that's a hell of a visual." He said looking down at her, and evil grin gracing his hardened face.

"Really," she said laughing quietly. "I'm so sorry."

"No you're not."

"No, I'm really not. What do you want to eat?" she asked walking towards a butcher. "I've got my clothes, some vid discs from old Earth, and some music what could you eat?"

_You._

"I have a few ideas Jack but meat, I'm definitely feeling carnivorous tonight. " he growled playfully next to her head.

"As you wish my lord." she said sweetly through her veil and he wanted to do nothing more than to kiss her right there.

"Tease." He whispered.

She ignored his comment. "I can't believe you went shopping, like a normal person."

"I'm not a _normal _person." He announced carrying a heavy bag over his shoulder. "But I'll take that as a compliment. Are we done?"

He didn't like feeling so exposed and wanted to get airborne as soon as possible.

"Yes, get us off this rock. I prefer the coldness of space to the feeling I get when we're exposed like this. I need to feel safe and being on the ground is definitely not it."

"As you wish princess." He yelled as the doors to the ship opened for them. "Best git my dinner going there you."

She smiled, took the packages and walked towards the mess while he prepped for launch. Mercs could wait, the stressful life of a fugitive could wait, he had Jack and was happy, happy for the first time in his whole life, so danger could wait.

* * *

When the scent of cooking meat, and the sound of her voice singing caught him by surprise, he sighed. He had spent the better part of his life locked away like a caged animal and with the girl he rescued from those monsters on T2, he had begun to entertain thoughts of actually having a normal life.

"Jack?" he asked walking towards the doorway. He had put back on the contact lenses so he could see her in normal light. He wanted to see her blush, her eyes, that color that reminded him of a cat's and her pale creamy skin. What he wasn't prepared for was the pink shirt she wore, and the deep blue of the denim jeans she wore. When was the last time he had seen that color? He had almost forgotten how pale it was. He saw her deep reddish brown hair and saw deep gold in it. He realized something so profound that he couldn't take a breath if he wanted to.

Richard B. Riddick, convicted killer, wanted fugitive was in love. The realization should have frightened him, should have made him want to run as fast as he could as far as he could, but it didn't. It should have screamed mistake, but even the beast within him was unusually quiet.

Maybe it was a good thing, maybe not. Earlier in his life he would have thought his feelings were a weakness, but now, for some reason he couldn't figure out, he saw it as something to fortify him.

"Riddick?" she asked turning around. "Hey there. I almost didn't recognize you without the goggles."

Her face was so clear, the rose tint in her cheeks, the full pink lips he wanted to kiss, those fathomless green eyes. "I wanted to see you, really see you."

"And? Do I measure up to the shined version?" she asked twirling around.

His amorous growl was her answer as he pulled her into his arms kissing her for a full minute. When they broke apart, both were breathless. "Wow, you don't disappoint do you?"

"No." he grinned wrapping his arms around her.

And in that moment, with her in his arms, he was sure he loved her. Absolute, powerful, love.

Around her neck was the necklace he'd given her, she wore her hair swept up so he could plainly see the medallion on her neck and her jeans low on her waist showed skin where the shirt ended and her waist began. "I figured you wanted me to dress "appropriately" not how did you put it? Like an old lady."

"I appreciate you wanting to please me. Whatcha cooking princess?" he asked kissing the exposed part of her neck. Her giggle showed him she liked it.

"Steaks, rare, because I like my meat with something to hold on to, seasoned with your Valysian Fire Whiskey. Marinated vegetables and fresh bread with a dipping sauce of fried spice and oil and for desert Venetian strawberries dipped in honey. Very tasty, gets the blood warm."

"You know Jack," he said leaning against the counter. "Spoiling me will get you everywhere."

"Tonight's dinner will help you get stronger. I need you at your best, and a man your age needs all the help you can get." She said doe eyed and innocent.

"Oh hell no Jack." He told her affronted by her stab at his masculinity.

"Aw baby did I hit a nerve?" she quipped turning the sizzling meat.

"If it weren't for the fact that you're about to serve this very fine meal, I'd show you just how wrong you are."

"Saved by the food." She smirked setting the meat on plates of herbs.

His glare softened when her smile reached his eyes. "Have a seat my lord, dinner is served."

An hour later, Riddick sat back feeling content and waited on the couch watching Jack clean up. He knew he should help her but he didn't want to sap his strength. He had a plan and wasn't about to do anything to get in the way of making his plan a reality.

Jack plopped down beside him and he smiled at her. He realized since they reunited that he'd smiled more than any other time in his entire adult life. "You amaze me with your culinary talents."

"Thank you my lord. It is my deepest wish you satisfy you." she said inclining her head and smiling.

"You have _no _idea what that just did to me. Say it again." he grinned looking at her like a predator who just found his quarry.

"Not on your life." she smiled trying to keep a straight face.

"Seriously, you're gonna make me soft." He told her. "The shit I've eaten over the years, damn Jack. That's the best meal I've ever had."

"Soft? I was hoping for a different reaction." She said looking at him funny.

"Jack. Don't tease," he groaned.

"Riddick, get a grip." She said rising slowly and winking. "Who said I was teasing?"

Then she took off in a run. "Really?" he growled, "You just wait Jackie old girl."

He removed his lenses, and bellowed. "Lights, off."

* * *

A good meal, a willing woman? This day can't get any better. "Jack oh Jack?" I'm singing down the hallway. "I can see you come out and play!"

God I'm loving this. She isn't even trying to hide well. "Where are you princess?"

"Hiding from you!" she yells. "Can't find me? What a shame! That's what happens when you get old. You forget."

She's gonna pay for that. I can hear her laughing from the bowels of the ship. She knows me well enough to remember how much I love to play this game. I remember it as a child. Hide and go seek.

_Get her, take her, it's about time. _My beast growls, and I agree, it's time to make her mine forever.

No more innuendo, no more quippy lines of sarcasm, just a good sound pounding.

My inner voice, the voice or reason tells me that she's a virgin and she's entitled to something special. My beast tells me my inner voice to shut the fuck up and that this is Jack, that this is what she wants.

I'm running in the dark looking for my…love wondering if I can't do something in between. She's hiding in the gym. I can see her as plain as day. She's laying on her elbows, her legs flat out wiggling her toes smiling.

The contacts allow me to see her like a man, but the beast in me wants to see her like this.

I'm so good at being quiet. "Jack?" I whisper growling.

She's there and I say it again watching her stifle a giggle.

I love this woman. She loves the beast and me at the same time. How can it get any better than this?

* * *

He crawled on his hands and knees so silently he was on her before she could speak. "Lights, forty percent." He said smiling, "Gotcha." Then grabbed her.

"No fair, you can see in the dark. Where can I get eyes like that?" she said in a teasing husky purr.

"You got to kill a few people." He replied straddling her legs and holding her arms above her head.

"Really?" she said lightning quick and he found himself on his back. Not that he tried hard to stop her. "I can do that."

"Yeah, then you gotta get sent to a slam where they tell ya you'll never see daylight again."

Just as quick he flipped her back to her original position. "Then you dig up a doctor, and pay him twenty menthol cools to do a surgical shine job."

"So no one can sneak up on you in the dark." She said flipping him over again.

"Then you meet a snotty kid who grows on you." he growls raising the deep voice he was used to using.

"And what?" she asked looking intently into his shined eyes.

"And you put up with her shit because she got to you." he growled predatorily.

"Is that so?" she quipped flipping him again.

"Yeah." He said grabbing her by the waist so she couldn't flee. He'd felt the slightest movement of her thighs and smiled catching her there. "Fist law of the jungle princess. Survival of the fittest. Gotcha now."

She struggled to get free as he sat up. "Aw what's a matter Audrey, got those panties in a twist now you can't get free?" he growled against her throat.

"Say that again and I'll have to hurt you." she growled right back. Her eyes stared into his unflinchingly.

His beast growled in anticipation. "I don't see how you can."

"I'll be inventive." She countered letting her hands trail down his sides. She could feel his muscular arms holding her fast in his lap ready to flip her again at the slightest movement.

"And what, Audrey in your vast experience would work?" he said standing up. His hands still held her at the waist and she stood there legs hanging down waiting for her to try something. "And don't think about it. I'll have you on your back in a heartbeat."

So kicking him in the nuts was definitely out of the question. Her hands ran down to his waistband where he shifted uncomfortably. "Oh my, Riddick, are we ticklish?"

"No." But she tried anyway, driving her fingers into his sides. He made quick work in hoisting her over his shoulder. He laughed when she struggled against him. "I had to try caveman."

He laughed louder and smacked her ass for good measure. "Oh Jack. You're gonna get it."

"Who me?" she asked innocently.

"I have spent the last few weeks," he said walking slowly passed the mess, "wondering what I should do with you. First, you pull my own shiv on me, then you offend my masculinity. " he said tiring a bit and needing to hoist her up again higher on his shoulder, "all the while, smiling. Now, you should be punished for that." he said smacking her ass again. "You're really a thick headed, opinionated, brat," he said laughing when she tried to escape, "to think that when I came back," he continued, despite her protests, "that I did it to see holy man. I came back for you Jack, and only you. You were the only one person, besides the hoodoo man in this whole," he said leaning against the bulkhead for a second.

"Getting tired old man?" she snipped. He smacked her ass harder, and it stung. "OW! You bastard!"

"Fucked up universe that believed that I could be anything more than a convict. Oh and Jack? Don't _ever_ call me that again." he said hoisting her up and starting to walk again.

"And you thought a good pounding would be thanks enough?" she asked laughing. He smacked her ass again and continued.

"I'm expressing," he said adjusting her on his shoulder to quit her squirming, rubbing that cheek just for the fun of his touching that perfect cheek, "my devotion here, pay attention Jack. We're vulnerable when we do this."

He could feel her hair touch his thighs and it tickled him eve through his pants. "Vulnerable? You? Not likely. I never you have pegged you as a 'feeling' man, but then I didn't peg you as a 'shopping' man either. OW!"

She spanked her again, but this time her response was more arousal than punishment.

"I think you're starting to like that, I may have to change my methods." He announced as he got to the room. "Jack open my fucken door."

He couldn't believe it was locked. She'd changed the pass code. "What's the matter Riddick? Can't get the door open? Arthritis setting in?"

SMACK…

"What's the combo Jack?" he said with a sense of urgency.

"Dunno, master of all you survey."

"JACK." He said in a low growl. "Are you gonna tell me what it is?"

"Nope, just admiring the view. Speaking of damn fine asses. Yours is… Guess away oh omnipotent one. These cheeks are a sight to behold."

"That ain't the only thing sweetheart." He growled at that. She laughed even harder.

"OOH I'm all quivering with anticipation." She smiled as his hand smacked her once again. "Oh Riddick! Yes! Baby harder. Rub my ass baby, smack me harder. YES!" she mewled seductively, then laughed, "YES! Harder baby!"

"That's it!" he shouted setting her down. His lips came down upon hers with a penetrative possessive kiss. She melted against him while his hands, rough and searching, touched her skin, running down her neck between the valley of her breasts, then he pushed her against the wall. He pinned her to him raining kisses so dizzying that the only sound she made was in response. Her moaning against his throat and chest served to make him more aggressive.

"Riddick." She gasped as his fingers found her hardened nipples and began to torture them. She arched her body towards him when his ministrations began to make her ache.

"Now, Jack, what is the fucken code to this room?" The beast glared growling in her ear.

She looked at him and faced the animal with one of her own. "I love you." she said loudly and he heard the locking mechanism click open. He was so stunned to hear those words coming out of her mouth that he gave her time to scamper away. "Thanks for a good time Riddick. Catch me if you can." She said laughing.

He leaned against the doorway and sighed. "Come out to play Jack." He snarled the beat barely at bay. "Lights ten percent."

_Now this is fun._

The corridor went dark, only the emergency lights shone and dimly. He took his goggles laid them on the ledge and ran after. "I'm coming for you Jack!" he growled loudly.

"YOU WISH RIDDICK. About the coming I mean." She said laughing, her voice echoing along the corridor.

"You are so in for it now…" he said enjoying her playfulness. "Is this how you behaved for holy man? No wonder you're so expensive. Get ready to play Jack! I'm coming to get you. I can _smell_ you."

He searched around until he came back to his quarters. How did she double back and he miss it? Clever girl. The room was dark. She was in the middle of his great bed, standing on her knees. Her hands were on her hips and she was taunting him with a finger. "Riddick." She growled at him, animal out and ready.

"Jack." He said positioning himself in front of her. "I said I was coming for you. I don't lie, do I?"

"Promises, promises, lover." She purred crooking that finger. The sound he made excited her even more when his arms grabbed her roughly.

"Got ya." He said pulling her to him. He could smell her, touch her, even taste her…

"So you have." She replied taking her hands and cupping his ass. "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that. Damn fine ass." She said running her hands from there up his back.

"Glad you think so." He growled as her hands ran up and tugged the bottom of his shirt. He put his arms up and she pulled it over his head. "Princess, you're gonna get it, so slowly… That was for making me chase you for an hour."

He nipped her ear and pulled her head back roughly kissing her throat, the one he almost strangled.

"What's a matter, getting tired? Aw, sorry maybe you need a nap."

He growled. "You're gonna be screaming my name in the end. This punishment is gonna be fun."

"You keep talkin a good show, but it's put up or shut up time."

He could not believe she just said that. He threw her down on her back and lifted her shirt an inch to reveal her navel. The fact that she wore low rise jeans that exposed a fair amount of her mid section helped him make her squirm. "Well," he explained kissing her navel and working his way down. "since you put me in this position, it's your turn to shut up, and take your medicine."

"Riddick, you wouldn't dare." She said nervous that he'd torture her.

"I dare, I dare Jack." He said grabbing both wrists and holding them above her head.

"NO!" she gasped as his tongue ran its way just to the edge of her shirt. "Let me go."

"Not a chance kid. I've got you now and you'll just have to admit you lost."

"NOT ON YOUR LIFE." she snapped as his tongue pushed up the material.

"You see Jack," he started keeping her still be straddling her hips and leaning over her holding her arms with one hand. "I only need to keep you still long enough for you to scream bloody murder because I plan on seeing you so frustrated that the only thing you'll be able to do is beg. Beg me to take you, beg me to stop, or don't… This is why no veil Jack. You can't close your eyes, you do and I won't let you come. That's the punishment for calling me old."

"You fuck!" she glared at him.

"All in good time princess." He said unbuttoning her shirt, one at a time, very slowly. When he reached the last one and exposed her breasts to the dim light he said in his lowest most sensual purr. "Been a long time since I seen beautiful."

"Riddick," she said nervously, "I apologize. Really."

"Too late for that kid." He said as he pushed between her legs and leaned down. His mouth descended upon the rosy bud and his free hand liberated it from the satin that kept it hidden. His tongue swirled it gently, and an uncontrolled whimper escaped her bringing a smile to his face.

_Jack, the fun ain't started yet. _

She squirmed underneath him as he moved to the other, all the while keeping her hands from being able to move. "Come on Riddick, uh, let, me, go. Please?"

"Nope you can't be trusted. Now," he said moving up to her neck, "did you know how beautiful you are? Your skin is so soft." He said taking his hand and running it softly between her breasts and stopping at the top of her belt. He began to unbuckle her jeans while kissing her neck. "Did you also know, how good you smell? Like vanilla, that's my favorite flavor. Just the right amount of sweet, and just the right amount of spice."

His kisses along her collarbone and throat distracted her so much that only when his hand hit her skin did she realize her pants were open and shifting down on her hips.

"Riddick?" she asked as he stroked and petted her skin, soft under his rough hands.

"Can you make the ache go away? I feel it all the time and I want it to once, just go away." She said frustrated. He understood that ache, it was the ache of frustration, and he was going to be instrumental in fixing that.

"Yeah kid, I can do that. You'll be screaming my name but it'll happen, I promise."

"You never, uh promise." She said as his kisses sent her reeling.

"Only for you. I promise only you." he whispered in her ear. The more he touched her the worse it got, he couldn't stop didn't want to, he wanted her to be his forever and he knew that she wanted it to. He felt her heart, beating like a hummingbird, and he knew that she needed him as much as he needed her.

"Let go, I want to touch you." she pleaded as his kisses stirred her further. He didn't know if he could handle her hands on him, touching him stirring _him. _He was harder than he'd ever been in his life and he knew it was because he was with Jack, he loved Jack, the one good thing in his life, the one person he'd thought of every day since he dropped her off in New Mecca, the only one who mattered, the one he wanted to see every day for the rest of it.

_Jack you're gonna kill me. _

Her hands slipped from his grip and she caressed his face, his chest, his arms as he touched her. It was when she wound her way down his stomach and felt past the belt he wore did he stop breathing. His length was aroused so hard that when her fingers slid along the press of fabric he shuddered, "God Jack."

"Stop, you aren't ready for that yet." He said in stilted halting breathy words.

"Then make me and hurry, I need to feel you, all of you." she begged.

* * *

Well kick me in the nuts and tell me a story, Damn if that didn't get me going.

She's so beautiful, I can't believe she's here, with me, on my bed. I have dreamed of this so many times. Alone, even while she was sitting feet from me, and with her blissfully aware. How many times have I fisted myself in the shower imagining her in my bed, begging me, like she is now.

"God, you're so beautiful." I tell her because she needs to know. Has to know how incredible she is.

"So are you." she tells me as she works my trousers loose and runs her fingers along my back.

* * *

Those words undid him. Whatever he thought he was going to be able to do to hold back flew out of his mind the moment she said those words in his ear. His kisses ran their way down her belly, towards the place no one had ever gone, the only place that his touch would ever be felt. He was insatiable, and her whimpers only spurred him on.

Her pants were gone in an instant and only the thin cotton barrier remained. Kissing her gently, softly he wanted her to scream his name before he was finished, if only to thumb his nose at those misguided bitches back on Hellion prime who thought it a sin for the woman to find fulfillment. He'd make damn sure she got some satisfaction.

"Yes Riddick, there please." She demanded in a half cry, half whimper. His growl against her skin sent shivers up and down her torso as he teased her so intimately.

"Jack, let go, I've got you." he told her pushing her to the middle of the bed. He wanted all the room he could get. There was nothing he wanted more than to mark her as his forever. This was his mate, his love and that made is possession of her more precious.

His eyes glanced at the beauty in his bed, naked and writhing under his touch and remembered back to the visual she gave him while on the planet. No comparison, this was the better of the two. "Jack, God you're.."

"Riddick, please don't stop what you're doing." She pleaded as he felt her nearing the one thing that would stop the ache.

"There, baby, or there?" he asked adjusting a bit to see what she liked better. Learning her was going to be the most interesting thing he'd ever done. When he found her most intimate spot she gasped and he knew that there was the place he needed to be, making it harder and harder for her to resist the feelings he knew were welling up inside her. He continued stoking her until she began screaming his name in an incoherent mantra.

_Go Jack, submit to only this. _He said to himself as his kisses and his hands brought her to a fevered almost primal need for release. Her hips rose up and down off the bed against his hand and she bucked as she shouted his name. "Riddick, Yes!" she cried out as her walls came crumbling down.

_Damn, she's so ready._

His beast concurred and growled against her as he knelt down to lap up her sweetness.

He had seen her in many lights, but this one was by far his favorite. Spent, drunk with sensation and completely loved. "Hey." He said leaning near her and smiling.

"Hmm." She said lazily. "I needed that."

"Yes you did. But that sweetheart is just a taste. There's more after that."

"Oh good, can't wait." She giggled. "You were right, a bit rough for a while but that ache is gone."

"Bad thing Jack, is that it comes back." He smirked looking at her with an evil grin.

"You're wearing to many clothes."

He stripped out of his boots, his trousers and laid back down crawling back down kissing that neck he loved so tenderly. She pulled him to her and she gasped finally feeling him against her. "Need any help with _that_ ?" she said smiling. "I think I can fix that."

"Can you now?" he smirked looking at her with his shined eyes.

"Uhuh." She said smiling never once leaving his eyes. Her hand grasped his length as she slowly kissed him, tenderly all the while moving her hand. She watched as his face leaned against her forehead and his eyes closed, as he growled. "You like?"

He didn't answer but smiled as she continued to touch him. "So strong, so very strong." She crooned as her cheek rested against his while she stroked him. "Jack, that feels so good."

"You know," she said suddenly feeling nervous, "it's gonna be too big to fit." She told him stopping but still holding on.

He laughed loudly. "It'll fit but thanks for the compliment."

"Jack," he said moving to the position where he'd claim her forever, "I'm not gonna hurt you, you know that, you know me. I am the one thing in your life that won't do that." he stated plainly and honestly.

"I know." She said afraid and excited at the same time. "Just do it quick. I'd like to start feeling good again, cause that ache is getting old."

"Sure, but you need to relax, it's only me, and I-" he stopped. He almost said it like it were the most natural thing in the world. "want you to feel safe, feel good, know I am not gonna hurt you."

"I believe you. I mean, that," she said as he began kissing her neck and working his way to her breasts, "in every uh, oh yeah, sense," she said as his began to torture one of the harden peaks. Then she felt him slowly ease into her and felt her barrier, "of the word. GOOD god." She winced as he stopped.

"Jack, I'm needing you to not move just now. It'll hurt but I promise I'll make it better." He told her as his hands ran through her hair, "Sh. Jack. Look at me."

Her eyes opened and in them he saw such love, such adoration and trust. He felt humbled by her, by this little slip of a woman that he had grown so attached to over the years, the one woman who could make him feel so important.

"Riddick!" she shouted as he pushed past the one thing keeping her from him.

She surrounded him so completely that he felt as if he was going to lose his control right then. She sheathed him so tightly that he could barely breathe. "Sh, Jack, look at me, relax, easy baby."

She smiled and blushed furiously. The heat off her was intense and she smiled, a broad triumphant grin. "Babe, you just spent a million credits." She told him as they both laid still.

"You're worth every penny." He told her kissing her nose and wanting so much to get moving. She was torturing him and didn't even realize it. He smiled then kissed her biting her lower lip. Her eyes were dark with desire and she saw those luminescent pools staring back at her with the same ardor she possessed.

"Every day," she said as his hips began to slowly move, "since I realized how much you meant to me," he said pulling out long enough to bury himself deeper in side her, "I wanted to be the only one to do this to you. To be yours in-every-single way." He told her picking up the pace slowly. He wanted to build her up again and let her be able to finally let go and feel what she was meant to be able to feel. "Loving you like this…" he said punctuating it with long fluid strokes.

The pace he was setting was making her whimper. "Riddick, please. I need more." She begged him, touching his arms, his chest his face, pleading with him.

"Jack, you're killing me." he said hanging his head low against her neck.

"Riddick please I can't take it anymore." She cried moving in time with him at his pace, and begging for release.

When it came, she screamed his name and how she loved him. How she'd waited for him for so long. He felt her pulsing around him and couldn't stop the raging torrent inside him. She met him thrust for thrust and held on when he couldn't stop the coil of heat within him. "Jack. God JACK!" he cried as his own release came so hard that he shuddered as his warmth flowed into her.

He became vaguely aware that his cheek rested against her breast, slick with perspiration. "Jack?" he said withdrawing from her and moving to hold her in his arms.

"Been a while?" she asked smiling as her hand small circles on his chest.

"You have _no _idea." He chuckled breathing so hard he felt like collapsing.

"What's so funny?" she asked looking up at him.

Pushing her head down against his chest he answered her. "Mrs. Carmichael I think I finally after nearly a month got my wedding night."

"Oh Riddick, you're an idiot. I was ready after three days."

He growled. "I've been a tense mess all this time and you were ready after three days?"

"Took you forever to get the hint and you call me dense?" she snorted against his chest. "To think, we could have been doing _that_ for weeks."

"Go to sleep Jack." He ordered.

"What if I want to do _that_ again?" she asked wickedly.

"We have to wait or you won't be able to walk later and then who'd cook my breakfast?"

"But I'm feeling that ache again." she told him.

"It's not the ache you feel, it's me." he informed her smug.

"Go wash up, you'll feel better. Then we can get some sleep." He said shooing her off the bed and towards the bathroom.

"Nice, shove me off the bed." She chided looking at him in mock disgust..

"Be quick." He demanded pointing to the door.

"As you wish my lord."

A few moments later, naked as the day she was born, Jack emerged feeling only slightly better and brushing her hair.

"Here let me do that. I've been dying to touch it for weeks." He said brushing her hair and watching her eyes close. He knew she was tired and he wanted her to sleep but secretly feared she'd been wound so tight for so long that she'd want to push it.

She kept trying to turn around and touch him but he wouldn't let her. "I've been dying to touch this for weeks." He repeated pushing the brush down her wavy hair.

"No, now sit still." He told her trying to keep her away from him. He created a monster. He smiled at the realization and pushed the brush through her hair once again.

"Like I said in New Mecca, I'm all yours. Now let's sleep." He said pulling her down .

"I mean it Jack, you need your rest." He ordered giving her a stern look.

"How would you know, how many virgins have you had?" she pouted as she laid down on the sheets, naked as a baby, her perfect ass staring at him.

DOWN BOY. She needs to rest. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, the square root of 4 is two.

"One but I've heard that." He said slipping in and pulling her into his arms. "Sleep now Jack or no punishment later."

That did it, she went right to sleep.


	33. Questions and Answers

Riddick awoke to the alarm of the vid-phone. The first thing that came to his mind was that he wasn't alone in his bed. There were few times he had awoken to find himself with another person beside him and he could count them all on one hand. Two of which were with Jack. The first time was on the skiff; they had huddled together during their flight from T2 while the holy man slept the dreamless sleep of exhaustion and grief.

Jack had screamed between periods of agitated sleep that one night and he was so tired that the only thing that seemed to calm her was his bloodied battered arm around her. He chuckled to himself thinking what had been going through his mind. _I'd wish she'd just shut the fuck up._

But he smiled remembering that once she laid her head on his chest and he ordered her to sleep, that he had felt oddly calm. That the warmth of her body and the complete trust she gave him changed something in him that he thought was never there to begin with.

Riddick also remembered that night many times since that night when his demons would come and he couldn't keep them at bay and that in that one harmless act, she had gotten farther than anyone else had been allowed. It was then when he realized that the kid he saved might have just saved him.

Only one man would be sending a message to him after the hasty one he had sent after their scrape in New London. He lifted his head trying to see if he was dreaming or if it was actually the message he'd been waiting for. He wanted the dream of being with Jack and Jack only to continue, but knew that reality would ultimately creep into his comfortable little world and tear it all down. He wanted control of that, and through Salim, he would have it.

Jack was curled against his side, her hand nestled against his chest sleeping peacefully. He looked down and also reminded himself with a smile that she was completely naked…perfectly satiated and finally his. That fact, if nothing else, made him smile, a broad shit eating grin that he dared anyone to try and knock off.

His mind recounted every detail from the night before. Vivid images and sounds flooded his brain causing him to stir in a way that could get him distracted from the task at hand. He needed to see this message, and he needed to figure out an answer. And for that, he needed Jack. But looking at her angelic form he didn't want to disturb her, so he had a problem.

His mind still remembered how she felt, how she tasted, and the sound of her voice, sending him into a mood he'd rarely felt, the mood of being satisfied and happy.

_Life is good_ …he thought to himself. Only his groan of frustration woke her. "Sorry kid, we got a message."

"The last message nearly got you killed, ignore it." She offered snuggling against his pillow. "Come back to bed."

"Ah, normally that would be a good plan, but it's from Salim." He answered sitting up and putting his pants on. He turned as she shot up in the bed gathering the sheet around her looking incredibly sexy in that position. "Jack, as lovely as this visual is, we need to know what's going on."

Her glare was answer enough. She wanted nothing more to do with any of it. He told her that she'd never had to go back but he also knew that they would never stop running if they didn't finish it.

Jack looked at him with a face of desperation. "Jack." He started pulling her into his lap, sheet and all. "We can't run forever."

"NO! We can't go back. I can't go back Riddick. I won't go back." She said playing with the edges of the sheet shaking like a leaf. She rambled on giving every reason she could think of why they needed to stay away.

After she was done, still trembling, he began to speak, his voice low and full of feeling, "I'm not gonna let them hurt you. We have to finish this or we'll never be free. You want that don't you?"

"Of course I do." She scoffed. "But you have no idea what waits for us there. If they find out that I've returned they'll arrest me, give me to Faisal, he'll rape and sodomize me, beat me and have the right to kill me because I disobeyed the council, ran _and _had sex with you. I could take the beatings but I won't let him touch me the way you have. I'll slit my wrists first."

His breath stopped in his chest because he knew she would do it. "Jack," he nearly shouted, his voice determined. "You will not ever even think about doing that to yourself. You hear me? You WILL NOT start thinking that shit. "

He sat there and let her cry because he knew she understood. "I won't let him hurt you. No matter how bad it gets, and it may get bad, know he won't live another second if he touches you."

"Why can't we get what we want? Why is it so fucken hard just to live?" she asked as he laid her down and stroked her cheek.

"Because some mother fuckers like to make it that way." He told her holding her silently for a while.

"Riddick?" she asked a little while later, "what do _you_ want?"

He laughed a sad cynical laugh. "You really want to know?"

"I do. I've always been curious, but since you're such a chatty guy I never hear anything but… oh Jack, right there baby…" she scoffed as his hand came close to smacking that favorite cheek of his.

"Seriously?" he began, "I've never known normal. Don't laugh. Since I came back, you treated me like a man, not a convict or a payday, and I've thought about things. With you, I could be myself, even when it frightened you, and I know it did. You never judged me. You aren't afraid of what I am. Part of me wants a job, a home, someone who'll stick around. Kids… I thought for a long time that I'd never have those things because I'm a fucking animal, but…"

"Things are different now." She said timidly realizing the magnitude of his confession.

"Yes, Jack. Things are different and I'm gonna do whatever takes to get that, with you." He told her kissing her forehead.

She started to cry, a joyous cry that made her heart nearly burst. He hadn't told her that he loved her but it was just as good.

"Oh, Riddick! I should be naked more often, if it gets you sentimental like this." She smirked as he wiped her tears and kissed her.

"That princess can be arranged." He whispered in her ear and the message, Salim, and the bounties on their heads were temporarily forgotten.

* * *

Hours and hours later, Jack carried the usual morning coffee, although it was sometime before dinner, as Riddick stared out into the blackness. His admission to her was so unexpected that he was unsure and wondered if he had gone too far, or if he had not been able to make his point.

Or if he was just out of his fucken mind…

"Can you read Arabic?" he asked looking at the message from Salim and tapping a boot on the footrest.

"Yes, I learned out of respect but mostly out of necessity." She told him standing at his side. He took the steaming cup, sipped it and closed his eyes.

"Tell me what it says."

"It's in code. Wait, let me get my laptop." She said scooting out off the bridge.

Riddick looked at the arrangement of numbers. It was a set of coordinates and a date, three weeks from now.

When she returned she decoded it to say:

_"Mr. Riddick, the bounty has been raised to one million five. You must return. He will not stop until she is found. There will be no safe place for either of you._

_You were spotted in New London. You were also seen in New Singapore. Nowhere is safe. We will be waiting for you. Jack will need to have new idents for you and her. The Carmichael's are on the hot list. There is danger here. Meet us in the spaceport on Hellion 2."_

"Looks like trouble." He said. "Can you send a coded transmission back to him?"

"Yes, what do you want me to say?" she asked looking grave.

"Tell him that we'll find our own way back to New Mecca but to be ready when we come."

She typed the code and hit the transmit button walking away without another word. She didn't want to talk to him, she only wanted to run and he was not going to let her.

Sometime later, he walked into the mess, where she was organizing the food stores. "Jack." He said quietly.

"What?" she asked not turning around.

"You know we have to do this." He told her putting his arms on either side of the counter. "The last thing I want to do is make any mistakes. Running can only get us so far. We can't live like that...trust me, they'll find us. We need to go get them first."

"I shouldn't have insisted on going to the planet." She said feeling guilty.

He watched her turn her face away. He wasn't going to let her take the blame. He was the one who insisted. "No Jack. You're not doing this. No mercs, just Salim's people. If he saw us, then it's possible that someone else did too. We've got to go back. Then I'm taking that son of a bitch out and that will be the end of it."

"Then what?" she asked looking at him quiet and afraid. "What happens then?"

"What do _you_ want Jack?" he asked almost afraid to hear her answer. He had an idea but never went down that road until now.

"Truly?" She said playing with his shirt. "You. Without mercs, or the threat of death and return to slam. No more people, no more paydays. I just want to live my life."

"Really?" he asked lifting her chin to look at him. The lights were low and his shined eyes reflected her so beautifully. "Am I important to you?"

_Say the words Jack. I know you feel them._

"Yes and it's not because you saved me all those years ago."

"Jack." He said pulling her into his arms, holding her there his arms strong and protective. "I'm not gonna let them hurt you. And it's not because I owe you for being nice to me."

* * *

"It's because you love me isn't it?" Well damn if she didn't nail me good there.

She's right and now was as good a time as any to tell her. "Yes."

Shit, she's crying again. "Jack, it's gonna be okay. I won't let anything go wrong."

"You can't be sure. I know you'll try. It's nice to know that you care so much about me like I care about you. I mean, all the time you were away, I figured something was…aw shit. I can't do this." She says running out of the mess and down the hallway.

What the fuck just happened? I just confessed my love and this is what happens?

Hell No Jack. "JACK?" I say running down the hallway. Whenever she gets upset she runs.

"Go away." She tells me sitting on the floor in her room, not the one I share but the one she slept in for a few nights when she first got on board. It felt cold and empty.

"Jack, say something damn it." I bellow.

Right now she's looking away and I'm trying to figure out what the hell she's thinking. I mean I can understand giving it up to someone who kills people is kind of fucked, but hey this is Jack. But I don't think that that's what's bothering her.

"Riddick?" She says her face pale and sweaty. I never realized how much this shit was scaring her. I can't help that now. We have to go back and end it and I can't make that any better.

I can do what I do best. I can kill those mother fuckers and finally get my life.

"Yeah Jack?" I ask looking at her trying to convince her that I'm gonna make that dream happen.

"You're timing sucks." She says laughing from nerves.

"How's that?" I say stroking her neck and inhaling her scent and trying to distract her.

"Faisal is a very powerful man." She tells me as I walk her back towards _our _room.

"He's also a very dead man." I say as I gently guide her with my hand at the small of her back. "No one is touching what's mine and I think you know that."

"I'm a liability. He'll use you to hurt me then he'll just hurt me. He hasn't forgotten my little reminder." She tells me in the voice I know means she's pulling away.

No he won't Jack, I'm gonna kill him slow and easy. Then that bitch is next.  
"Jack, I know you think that you're doing what's best by pulling back, but it ain't gonna work. I've had you, and I won't be going back to the way it was. You hear me? This," I say sitting her on my bed, our bed, "is not something I'm giving up."  
"If you put it that way." She says trying to smile. I think I've made my point. 

That's right Jack believe in us. "Salim," I tell her kissing her hands, those hands that I remember being so soft, "is going to help us. You know him better than I do. You tell me, can we trust him?"

She's leaning on her elbows and looking at me, starting to think about, "Yes."

"And," I tell her as my fingers start tracing the outline of her ribs, working my way up. "all of his men. I've got a plan and Salim and I worked on it before we left. I'm not gonna lie, it's dangerous. We'll workout every day getting strong enough and fast enough. Do you can handle that? I plan on ghosting Mohammed and getting that bounty off our heads for good."

She's thinking about it now wondering what I'm gonna do.

But, I'm not wanting her to think about that right now. "What are you saying Riddick?"

"I'm thinking it's time you," I tell her giving her a kiss on the soft part of her wrist, "and I, work on something a little more permanent."

"Really?" she says heavy lidded and aroused, cause I'm taking my time and making her that way.

"Yes, you're stuck with me princess."

"Good, I hate wondering, uh about mm that." She tells me arching against my body.

I know one thing is true, if I can keep her strong enough to believe that, then we can get through anything.


	34. Nothing could be finer

**To all those who are as hooked on Riddick and Jack as I am, and I wrote this, thank you for your faithfulness.**

**Rose, you rock!**

**Riddick's Sita: Yes they have to go back. But it's gonna be an interesting return trip.**

**SNEAK preview: Dancing for Riddick will happen. YEAH I know you all want that. **

**Sasha returns better than ever.**

**Riddick in this chappy is looking very VIN esque. So get your fans ladies the hotness is gonna start!**

**Anyone who wishes to email me and try and get the next chappies can at **

**Being a Jack myself I am so psyched at what's gonna happen. Got it worked out so strap on your seat belts and hang on!**

**Thanks AGAIN!**

* * *

Riddick, still on the mend from his run-in with Stroud and Boyle on New London, sat in the pilot's chair feeling like a large lion after a good meal. Every night for nearly three straight weeks, without fail, he lived a private dream.

Every morning, after a good morning kiss, he and Jack would spend hours working out, sparring, fighting, special time where he would learn the kata she would perform, and taking much needed breaks where they would make love until lunch.

In the afternoon, Jack would hack into New Mecca's mainframe computers, making alternate identities for Salim, his men, and for both of them or she would keep him company and listen to him talk, it never ceased to amaze him how she could sit and just listen.

And he thought women would talk a lot. He told her things that he hadn't spoken aloud to anyone, and she listened, truly listened.

Every evening, after eating a meal together, they would watch a vid disc or two and spend the nights in each other's arms devouring the tastes each other had to offer.

He was never happier in his life. They did not hide their feelings, and only when he would put his game face on did he feel the rage that had been so much a part of his life. With Jack's help, he kept up with Salim via coded transmissions and kept tabs on what was happening with Imam, and the magnificent seven.

She tutored him on the ways of the pilgrims of New Mecca so that he could pull of his role in the plan to kill Mohammed. In turn, he tutored her on how to be silent and deadly.

They were taking their time; he hated cyro-sleep and refused to use it. His plan was to have her as much to himself as possible. They set down on the seventh planet in Hellion System to refit and get supplies. Jack had expressed a desire to have Sasha reconfigured to be able to perform surgeries if necessary. He learned in the two months they had been back together that she's was smart and beautiful and that he'd be a fool not take advantage of her good judgment.

It took them nearly another week to have Sasha refit. "How long before we get to Hellion Prime?" She asked him looking at him from her position on the mat.

"Another week." He told her looking at with a smile.

"Taking the long way around?" she asked wiggling her toes after she removed her boots.

"What if I am?" he asked looking at her hungrily.

"I would have thought that you would have wanted to get this over with." She said lying on her stomach watching him stretch.

"Well, I'm not in any hurry to start trouble." He growled. "Trouble usually finds me."

"I believe that." She snorted. "Did I mention to you that I find you funny?"

"No, you didn't Jack." He was going through a graceful kata, pulling his long lean muscles to a taut stretch that made him groan with satisfaction. Working the soreness and stiffness and getting back to the shape he was in before he got screwed up was feeling pretty good.

"Or the fact that I find you very sexy when you do kata, agile too, like a cat."

"What do you want Jack?" he said moving to a quiet inner rhythm.

"Are we done?" she asked looking at him grinning wickedly.

"That depends on what you have in mind." He laughed knowing exactly what she had in mind.

"I was thinking that we might change the routine a little bit tonight." She told him smiling. "Maybe in lieu of a movie we'd have some _dancing_."

His eyebrow rose up in anticipation and the beast within him growled loudly. "You gonna dance for me Jack?"

"Would you like me to?" she asked crooking a finger and urging him to come over to sit by her.

In a split second he had her pinned, "Oh yeah Jack." He growled seductively her ear. "I'd like that very much. Same Song Jack."

"As you wish my lord." She winked pulling him to her in a crushing kiss.

* * *

Riddick paused walking down the hallway. "Jack?" he asked making his way towards the mess and finding her in the kitchen. The smells that wafted gently up to his nostrils were rich and spiced. He knew how she enjoyed cooking; creating and feeling freedoms through those things made him feel good. She'd been repressed for too long. He looked down at himself and shifted on the hard metal floor.

He felt uncomfortable. He was dressed very differently than he was used to, wearing a pair of blue denim jeans from a vintage shop catering in old Earth clothes, a deep indigo silk shirt he wore when he met with clients, and bare feet.

Riddick heard her before he saw her and with his contact lenses in he was very pleased looking at her. He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. She wore a floral wrap skirt and a dark top, both very sexy, showing just the right amount of skin. He saw the vibrant greens, yellows and the black, contrasting beautifully with her creamy skin.

He was standing in the doorway to the kitchen when she noticed him. "Is that you Riddick? Damn! Wow, you look very retro."

"I feel pretty weird. Used to dressing like a convict. But if you like it, I can live with it." He told her looking at her put a roast chicken back into the oven to finish cooking. "You're gonna spoil me with your cooking Jack."

"And you're gonna spoil me looking so hot." She said winking.

"Jack, you should talk." He smirked laughing while her walking around him giving him the once over.

"You'd be expensive, this is a very sexy look. This," she remarked, pointing to the fact that the first three buttons were opened exposing his hard muscular chest, "is a very big turn on. Riddick, you trying to tease me on purpose?"

He rolled his eyes and laughed. Since they had stopped fighting about how and what they had been feeling about one another, he had laughed more, lost the perpetual scowl and made it a point to enjoy himself.

Jack had found a shop on one of the planets they had stopped on and took the credits remaining on one of their credit chips to make sure he didn't look like a convict any longer. He hadn't really cared what she bought, since fresh food was involved in that shopping. He had taken care of getting what they needed for their return to New Mecca in the way of weapons and other things they might need in order to carry out the plan.

They met up back at the ship and he wasn't aware that she'd bought him anything until he saw her putting them away.

"_What the hell is this shit Jack?"_ he had asked her looking at the clothes that varied from robes that a pilgrim would wear to dark black leather pants that he could wear and look menacing and hot at the same time. He wasn't happy at all that she had also bought a full shadour, full length covering that would obliterate any trace of her, or the robes that would make him just another face in the crowd. But he let it go because she had also bought other things that certainly made up for it.

"_An appropriate wardrobe for a transport captain. You need to embrace the fact that if you don't look like you're on the run, people won't think you are."_ She told him folding his slacks, put his tanks and wife-beaters in the drawer and smiled.

What she said made sense and he couldn't discount her reasoning. But he didn't have to like it.

"_What was wrong with what I had before?_" he asked suddenly curious because she was smiling like he did when he was thinking something perverted.

"Nothing, you were wearing them out and I had money, and I've never had money so I indulged. Bought some things for myself too. So be pleasantly surprised Riddick."

And he was, every night since.

"Embracing the vacation baby?" she asked noticing his bare feet. He rocked against the doorframe and smiled again.

"Absolutely. These," he said running his hands down his thighs, "are very comfortable."

"And very arousing. Makes me wonder what you'd look like naked." She said playfully using his own words against him.

"Play your cards right and you just might." He said walking over and taking a piece of bread. "You look nice. I like seeing you in color. I like seeing you naked too. So, when's that dance gonna happen Jack, before or _after _dinner?"

"Everything comes to he who waits Riddick, so keep it in your pants a little longer. And no feeling up the cook." She warned as he came up behind her. He ignored her and grabbed her hoisting her up on the counter.

"I'll do whatever I want. Get used to it." He chided kissing her throat. "You taste like spice."

"Connoisseur on human flesh are we?" she asked smiling.

"You could say that. I seem to have a craving just now and I can't seem to help myself." He purred in her ear.

"You hungry?"

"Starving Jack." He said in whisper.

She kissed him with such passion that she forgot that she needed to keep him edgy until after dinner, but she couldn't seem to get enough of him, his touch, the sound of his voice against her skin or the love that seemed to flow out of him an into her.

Four years earlier, when he pulled her off the sands of that dead planet, she never expected him to be standing near her, touching her, tasting her, making love to her every night. She was not gonna complain. But it was surprising nonetheless.

She smiled, causing him to look at her. "Whatcha thinking about princess?"

"We're missing the party. Come on."

It took him a moment to realize the context of the quote.

"Yeah, I remember that. You hiding underneath the tarp, thinking I couldn't tell you were there. Funny, the look on Johns' face. _Come on boy. _Like I was some fucken dog. Look where he ended up."

"Pieces all over the canyon, if I remember." She told him shuddering at the memory, but more for the memory of that night because it was the night Johns asked him to kill her and use her for bait. She remembered what it meant for her, that he still had some humanity left inside him.

"I'm gonna say it again. Don't you dare Jack. Don't you dare…" he said knowing that her emotional state was just as delicate now as it as then, now more so.

"I'm fine Riddick." She contended trying to scoot off the counter.

"No I don't think you are." He said grabbing her hips and lifting her off the countertop. "I think you're so scared that something's gonna go wrong that you can't stop thinking about it."

"Stop fucking with my head. The fact that when we get back that I have to be worrying constantly that you're gonna get your ass ghosted, or worse sent back to slam gets me worried sure, but its all those hot pilgrim chicks checking you out looking like that that gets me so fucken pissed. See," she said poking his chest maneuvering him to the couch and pushing him down, "I don't share, not now, not then, not ever. So you had better get used to that."

"_I _had better get used to it. Now that's funny."

"You think I can't stake a claim on you?" she asked setting herself astride his lap.

"I think you'd try." He told her having a good time messing with her. _I gotta fuck with ya a little, but you know that._

"I think I already have. Marked you as mine." She said triumphantly. "Anyone, who comes near you, will smell _me."_

He laughed loudly. "Jack, I love you."

She just stared at him. When he stopped laughing he looked at her tenderly. "What?"

"You heard me." He crooned looking at her his hard features softened a knowing look on his face.

"When?" she asked suddenly curious.

"Long time kid. Long time." He purred looking at her and rubbing her back. "How about you?"

He stroked her naked arms rubbing his cheek against her neck like a kitten. "Honestly?"

"No, tell me a pretty lie Jack, of course, isn't that what we do with each other?" he said low and purposeful in her ear.

"The day you gave me this." She said looking down at the medallion.

"Aw Jack! Now who's getting sentimental?" He said smugly. "It's cause I look good in these clothes isn't it?"

He sat back and let her run her hands across the deep blue silk and his groan gave her just the right amount of power to allow her to get him all hot and bothered. "You know Jack, I still feel the same on the inside; I'll always be a convict."

"Not to me. I loved you with a shiv in your hand making smart-ass comments to Johns Riddick. Don't think its because you look hot in a pair of jeans."

"Aw Jack, that was so sweet. Remind me to make a card out of that one." He told her running his hands down her back and holding them on the spot where her tattoo ended.

"Keep that up and um, no, Riddick, desert…" she tried to say when his kissing her collarbone distracted her to a point when she could not form a thought.

"Jack, when we get to New Mecca I'm gonna miss all this good food." He admitted teasing her right ear lobe.

"I always knew that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. Always knew you loved me for the food." She purred as his hand stroked her neck and cheek. "Also, I never would have figured you for a tender man. More of the rough and ready type."

"Jack," he said low and seductively, "I could give a shit about your cooking and you know it. And for rough and ready, all you gotta do is ask." Then his growl vibrated against her breasts and her whimper was all he needed to let him know she was ready to forgo dinner for little skin.

They heard the bell ring indicating that the chicken was done. "Come on big guy let's eat. Help me serve?"

"Sure, but Jack?" he asked carving the bird and waving the knife at her as he spoke, "I don't do the dishes. I draw the line there." He laughed slicing the thigh from the bone and placing it next to the breast he just carved. "White meat or dark?"

"You know me, I like something in between. You know what I like." She winked, looking him up and down pouring wine into the two glasses. He laughed again. "You sound happy."

"I am Jack. Never would have thought I ever get the chance to be this way, but yeah I'm happy."

"How does 'normal' feel?" she asked cutting some bread and setting out the spices.

He looked at her and felt so content that he wanted to shout. Her smile, the sound of her voice, the fact that she believed in him like no one had ever done in his life, made him feel so wonderful that even the good food she cooked for him couldn't compare. "Yeah, I'm happy."

Then a dark thought crept into his mind, one of the few times that he let it.

_How long was it gonna last before it allgoes to shit?_


	35. The return of Dancing Jack

**To all my loyal readers: This is the best christmas present I could ever get. KEEP reviewing!**

**Disclaimer: Jack and Riddick are property of USA films, and no matter how much I wish I could own em, can't.**

**To all those that are wondering if anyone dies, CAN'T tell ya but have no fear, shippers everywhere will REJOICE.**

**WARNING: Mature themes and sexual situations are in this chapter, strongest you can get without an NC 17 rating.**

**To Sita, and all the girls, Riddick and Jack get naughty. AGAIN.**

**Thanks, just so you know. I'm working on a chappie a day now, and I hope to be completed by weekend.**

**HUGS KISSES AND all good stuff. you all can email me direct if you want. I love getting mail!**

* * *

She's playing her music again. Man, I'm feeling good...better than I deserve. I've had regular meals, damn good food, a woman who loves me and tells me in very interesting ways, and the hope of actually spending the rest of my fucked up life being with her. _With her…_

It's been almost two months since I came back and on the outside is a guy who smiles… yeah can you believe it? Richard B. Riddick, convicted murderer, a smiling fool in love. Yep that's me. Came on kinda gradually.

I've been wondering about that actually. But between getting to know Jack, I mean really know her, letting her see me, really see me, I've been enjoying myself.

_Playing with fire's more like it. _My beast growls remembering every little innuendo, touch, scent and fantasy.

Been thinking about her, watching her when she sleeps wondering how I could have gotten so lucky.

People like me don't get lucky.

Then, I keep thinking back to what holy man kept telling me.

_"Jack has grown into a beautiful woman who will need someone who can be everything to her."_

I told him that she was fine the way she was. But that was before I came back and saw her. Then I knew that he was right.

_"She needs stability."_

I couldn't give her that, even now, when I really want to. Trust me, after two months with Jack; I want to be _that_ guy.

_"She's in love with the idea of you."_

The idea of me. Yeah right. I laughed out loud when he said that. But his face was just a serious as it always was, looking at me over the vid-phone staring into my face like a protective father. He kept telling me that there was something between us that transcended the rational, that it was all something unexplainable. He was right about that. I can't explain it either and I could give a shit about explaining it. But I'm gonna have to when we go back.

_"She needs your protection, and I know you're capable of that aren't you?"_

Hey holy man I'm protecting her just like to told me to. Been lots going on and well you know me…

_Like you're nailing her every night,_ my beast growls possessively. 

Three guesses to see if I give a shit about that.

_Like you'll kill any motherfucker that goes near her…_it pipes in again.

On the inside, I'm feeling all kinds of things that aren't so good, pure or nice. The darkness calls me and I can't seem to stop it. Part of me doesn't want to stop it.

Jealousy…possessiveness…rage and anger…the need to kill… The beast wants out and wants blood constantly.

But the only good thing about any of it is that it's all directed at one man and not at Jack. Can't feel those things for Jack, because of Jack, yeah, but not at her. I won't ruin the one good thing I have. She loves me and that's a fact.

God she's so good, so pure and… _so damn good in bed_ my beast growls. I gotta admit that she was a quick study, learning what I liked. I ain't complaining one bit about that.

_You better not, she's the best piece of ass you've ever had you fuck._

He's right. She is, and the last one if I have anything to say about it. I just need to concentrate, figure out a plan to kill Faisal Mohammed and every piece of shit that comes between freedom and me with Jack. I will not let anyone fuck that up.

Jack is my only reason for staying human, not going completely primal. I'd do anything for her.

Yes, I'd even die for her. Kept thinking about what Fry had said, what she had done.

_Not for me…_

She pulled me back, bloody and ready to be a fucken appetizer, and her eyes, just like Jack's saw into my soul. She died so I could live and that was the biggest mistake. I'm not worthy of that kind of sacrifice. I'm a killer, a murderer. But because of Jack, I want to be. Yeah, I'd die for her. I get that now; I understand what she meant.

But that shit ain't fucken happening. I'm gonna have a life with her, a house, the kids, a garden, the works.

And I'm gonna have to kill some people to do it.

* * *

The music blaring and hypnotic signaled to Riddick that messing around on the bridge was over. His shit eating grin and the loud slap against the deck that his bare feet made were the only two things that stayed the same when he reached the mess. 

Heaving he stopped at the doorway leaning against the frame staring. His shirt laying loosely at his hips, looked incredibly sexy and he bit his lip before licking it.

_All right Jack. Damn._

Standing across from the couch was Jack, dressed so provocatively that he had to think about breathing to make it happen. She had on a long skirt, slit on the sides, laying low on her hips, bracelets that made a sharp melodic noise when she moved her arms, and a top that wrapped tightly around her breasts that he could tell immediately she was braless and aroused.

"Sit." She ordered pointing to the couch. His eyebrow raised surprised at her audacity. He decided that he liked aggressive Jack.

_Well, well, well…_

The song began just as he remembered it and his eyes closed for a moment feeling the pulsing beat deep in his chest and only opened them when he felt her hand on his chest.

"Riddick, you keep your eyes open or I won't let you come." She said using his own warning against him.

_I'd like to see you try it kid. _"You little…" he growled playfully looking at the black top she wore that tied in the back, it wrapped tightly around her breasts showing just the right amount of skin.

"Watch lover, its all about _you_ tonight." She promised rattling the bracelets on her wrists.

"Promises, promises Jack." He quipped as System began. _Lover…_his inner beast growled as they both watched her start to dance.

He had women before but she was his first lover, the one that would heat and cool his blood. He was still wearing his contact lenses and saw the pink flush from the blood flowing through her, excited aroused blood. He watched rapt as her hands move slowly, seductively as the singer began his mantra.

_You fell away, what more can I say?_

_The feelings evolved I won't let them out._

_I can't replace your screaming face,_

_Feeling the sickness inside._

She never took her eyes off him watching him unbutton the last two buttons of his shirt and let it hang as he sat down.

"Beautiful." He said looking at her and sitting down. The beat rang in his ears like his heartbeat. He bit his lip making her smile, that smile at him lit up the room. The animal unrestrained danced before him moving her hips slowly, purposefully.

"You like this baby?" she asked moving slowly closer, teasing him into a painful frustrated state.

"Oh yeah." He purred sitting in the middle of the couch like the king of the beasts. His shirt lay open, and her eyes darted between his muscular chest, the hard flat stomach and back up to his heavy lidded aroused eyes.

He wanted her. She knew that by his agitated state. The movement of her hips, the way his eyes moved from her pelvis to her hands and back to her legs, she knew it was working.

He watched, aroused by the sound of the bracelets, her hands roaming her body and the moans that he could hear as the band's lead singer sung the words that he heard besides the beating of his heart.

_Fuck Jack. Give it to me._

Her hand, the one held towards him moved like a snake, caught his eye long enough to have him notice where she put her other.

Why won't you die? 

_Your blood and mine_

_We'll be fine._

Her fingers reached her breast and he watched her slip her hand underneath the fabric and work to arouse the nipple he wanted to taste.

_Then your body will be mine._

He groaned when her hands began to tease her body. His hand, of it's own volition, rested against his lap and began to rub the denim. It was when she moved towards him and came to the edge of the sofa that his control wore thin.

"Jack," he demanded in a husky growl. "Touch yourself like that and you're asking for trouble."

"Trouble is my middle name." She told him trailing her hand beneath the waistband of her skirt. "Like this?"

_Why is everything so fucking hard for me?_

"God Jack…" he growled dying to touch her. The jeans that had once been comfortable and easy were strangling him against his erection. Her hands found their way to the one place he wanted to touch.

Her erotic dance and the sounds she made while she touched herself accompanied by the beat and voice of the singer made him crazy. He could smell her; feel her arousal, and he longed to plunge deep into her.

_Keep me down to what you think I should be _

_Must you tempt me and provoke the ministry?_

_Keep on trying I'm not dying so easily._

_I will not die…_

She finally after teasing him into having to rub the source of his irritation stopped in front of him. "Come here." She told him crooking her finger.

Riddick groaned loudly and pulled her forcefully into his lap. "Damn fine show Jack." He said burying his face in the valley between her breasts. She smelled divine. Aroused, the scent of spice, the hint of vanilla, the hardened nipples waiting for his lips to suckle them, he growled at her warm skin.

"Glad you think so." She said straddling his hips and caressing his face and neck. "Touch me Riddick, I want to be touched. This music gets me all hot and bothered and the only one who can make it better is you."

He didn't need any more encouragement than that. His hands, on her back, undid the knot holding the shirt that she wrapped around her. Once free, his mouth took a hardened nub and teased a low growl out of her. "Like I said, Beautiful."

She chuckled between sighing. "You're wearing to many clothes Riddick."

Her hand found its way to the button of his jeans and pulled, popping the rest in rapid succession. The next song started and had a loud penetrating beat, sensual and arousing. He slipped them off while she was still in his lap and ran his hands up her thighs teasing her skin with his rough hands.

When her hand found his arousal and stroked it. He growled loudly as she laughed, "You went commando, how naughty of you."

His erection, laying against her inner thigh, twitched when he found that she had indeed not worn any panties. "Kind of ruins the moment if you've gotta work for it, huh Jack?"

His hand found the her center and rubbed her lightly, "Riddick, you uh, found, me, out."

He tortured her for a full minute, smiling and growling when she squirmed against him. His hands undid the wrap skirt and he threw it aside his eyes basking in the image of her naked sitting on top of him. "I need you Jack."

Jack smiled as he tortured her breasts. She guided herself down slowly onto his rock hard arousal.

They both growled when she slid slowly down in time to the music. "I've always wanted to try this." She told him rising and falling on him in time to the music. "_Nine inch_ nails, it seemed, uh appropriate."

_I wanna fuck you like an animal… I wanna feel you from the inside…you bring me closer to God!_

His hands were on her hips, working up and down picking up the pace. "Jack, you're gonna kill me one of these days. Damn you feel good."

"So do you. I've always wanted to be impaled." She said arching her arching her back and cupping him. "Faster Riddick."

He groaned and left nothing to chance and began to thrust upward as forcefully as she rode him. His stomach and chest heaved with the coiled fire inside him and he felt her clenching too, "Let go Jack. I got ya."

His hands cupped those perfect cheeks and he couldn't help himself from smacking lightly the incredible piece of flesh in his hand. That little tap seemed to spur her on. Their pace began to quicken and both seemed to be about to lose control.

When her orgasm came she cried out, her body rocking and grinding so fluidly that her damp skin felt like silk in his hands. Her primal voice rang out in his intimate embrace "Riddick! Yes!! Oh baby! Harder…I want to feel you."

The animal in him took control and it wasn't long before he was crying out her name in a loud unrestrained cry.

Damp and satiated they sat still connected to one another, kissing the sweat off each other's limbs. "Riddick, I love you, no matter what happens tomorrow."

"Jack, we're gonna be fine. We're gonna do this by the numbers and then it's gonna be just us. When the dying starts, you stick by me."

"Where else would I be?" she asked adjusting herself against him.

"Good girl." He said lifting her up, and carried her to his bed still wrapped around him.

The night wasn't half over and he had plans to keep very busy. She giggled and he laughed as she straddled his hips leaning back as he walked. He watched her breasts jiggle when she laughed and it wasn't long before he was up and ready for another round.

"This is what I call desert." She said in a playful sexy voice. His growl and attack once they reached the bedroom was the first in a series of loud boisterous responses to her taunts.

"Come here Jack, I got some desert for you." He said throwing her on the bed and pouncing. That kind of behavior although fun, could get them both into trouble. But at that point neither of them cared.


	36. Cocked Locked and ready to rock

Jack sat up in the darkness and stretched looking at Riddick with a wicked grin. In the weeks she had been intimate with him, she had known pleasure, want, need and absolute love.

She was in love with him, not just in her fantasies, but also in reality, and reality was much better than anything she could dream. He was tender when he chose to, aggressive and demanding when he chose, and sweet when it struck him. She accepted all the sides of him without question and loved each part of him.

His harshness, something to be feared by so many, never phased her one iota. His mean, fuck off and die façade was scary if you didn't really know him. But she _did_ know Riddick, intimately and he knew her.

She rose, looking at him sleeping, and wondered how he would look at 30, then 40. Would he still smirk at her like he did when she said something that shocked him or made him laugh?

She hoped so.

She showered, pulled her hair back and dressed not as a pilgrim, but as a bad ass. She wasn't going back with her tail between her legs, she was going back to kick ass and end the game she had to play with the magnificent seven. She wore black jeans, skin-tight long sleeved black shirt, mechanics boots, and the blood red choker around her neck, medallion tucked and secured between her breasts. A special leather belt was around her waist containing two shivs, and the bone shiv in her boot.

"Jack?" a groggy voice said in the darkness. His face and head had the scruff he would use to camouflage the face Mohammed had seen both in the market, and at the villa with Imam.

"Yes Riddick?" she asked brushing her hair.

"It's early still, stay." He requested patting the bed. His eyes glinted in the darkness and he waited for her to speak.

"I've spoiled you rotten." She quipped crawling on the bed like a cat.

"Yeah. Had to happen some time." He purred playing with her hair.

She laughed loudly and Riddick joined her. "I'll keep _that _secret for you. Wouldn't want to tarnish that rep now would you?"

"No, I'd appreciate that. Wouldn't want anyone to know you're my one weakness."

She hadn't thought of herself like that and she was immediately worried. "Relax princess, we stick together and we'll be just fine. Remember what I taught you. Remember everything you see and hear. Use it to your advantage."

"Yes Obiwan. I will use the force." She smirked kissing him. "Good morning Riddick."

A growl in his chest let her known how she pleased him. He kissed her back pulling onto him and rolling her onto her back. "Good morning Jack."

After a full minute of passionate kissing Jack pulled back giggling. "We have to land this ship and get cracking there you. I would have thought that you'd had enough last night."

"Baby, I'm never gonna get enough of you." He purred in her ear.

She laughed again and wiggled out of his embrace. "Shower then meet me on the bridge, we've got some people to kill."

* * *

Damn if _that _didn't get me going. Jack surprises me so often I've come to expect nothing less than the unexpected. She's not dressing like a pilgrim any more and I'm glad. Those frumpy ass skirts aren't good when you've got to fight. I showered and look in the mirror and don't recognize myself. Goatee beard coming in, dark shadow of hair on my head, and those contact lenses make me feel like I'm looking at a stranger.

"_You know I kinda like the scruff, it's rough against my skin." _She told me during the night.

What a night! She amazed me again. I've gotta say, I've had sex before but with Jack everything feels more intense. Every kiss, every time her tongue would touch me, I'd want to explode.

She felt incredible. _Especially when she went down on you, that was the fucken best._ my beast snarled remembering her lips on the head of my cock. _Damn_ that was the best part. Said she was returning the favor.

I'm one lucky fuck.

She left here heading towards the med lab with her midi-disc in her ears singing and shaking that ass.

I'm gonna need a shower, a cold one or we'll never land this fucken ship.

* * *

"Good morning Jack, how may I be of assistance?" Sasha asked as Jack sat on the table and fiddled with a handle held pc.

"Sasha, please run a level one diagnostic scan. I'm tired this morning and I need you to find out why." Jack asked her yawning and laying on the table. A bright blue light started at her head and slowly moved down her body and ended after it hit her feet.

"Scan commencing Jack. I would think that if you were to actually sleep instead of engaging in sexual relations with Riddick that you'd be more rested. Granted, I have observed the elevated pheromone levels between the two of you and realize that being companions that is what is expected, but you must realize that you are pushing yourself towards exhaustion."

"Very funny Sasha. I'm not sick am I?" she asked laying on the table while she fiddled with the controls on the pc.

"Scan complete. No Jack you aren't. You're perfectly healthy." Was all Sasha said, knowing that they were returning to New Mecca. "Exhausted and perhaps a bit on the thin side but very healthy. I would eat more foods rich in iron to help fortify your strength but there is nothing abnormally wrong."

Jack sat remembering what she had told Sasha; the reason for her refitting that there was a reason for the new hardware.

_"Sasha, what I'm about to tell you is very important. The reason why you're being upgraded is because things are gonna get messy when we reach Hellion Prime. Now in the event that we take on casualties, I need you ready to save whomever we put on the table."_

"_I will to the best of my abilities, what is that in your hand?"_ she asked illuminating a part of the table that still had hardware left to install.

_"It's one of the portable versions of you. It's for triage, a mobile diagnostic tool. If we come in hot, then I'll need to know what to tell you so you can operate."_

"_That is very efficient Jack, I would have never thought about that,_" crooned Jack's voice back to her. _"Will you and Riddick both have one?"_

_"Yes. There's a very good chance that I'll be captured, arrested and given to Faisal, and I need you to be able to save my life. I suspect a very bad beating will result if he gets his hands on me, and I can't count on big guy to stay calm. I need you to do that for me."_

"_It would be my pleasure to help Riddick. He is very good to you. Do you love him?"_ Sasha asked updating her software. _"Does he return those feelings?"_

"_Yes, and that's why I need you to be strong for him if something goes wrong."_ Jack told her pushing buttons and adjusting the new instruments. _"I've got you equipped with a laser, a stasis tube if the injuries are too severe for you to repair, and also a special table that will allow you to be fully operational in case you have to perform surgery. Can you handle the big show Sasha?"_

"_I can handle everything and anything, as long as it's within my specified parameters. But yes, I can handle it."_ She told her as Jack went through the inventory of supplies.

_"But Jack you will not attempt to put yourself in harm's way, will you?" she_ asked while Jack checked some data on the vid screen. 

_"That is not my intent. But I can't leave anything to chance. Synthesize my blood will you? Take this and make sure I have at least two liters on stasis, take Riddick's blood sample and do two liters as well. We may be coming in hot and heavy and I'll need you to be able to get started quickly. What do you think I should equip on the hand held, I think maybe some pain meds, stuff to stabilize and maybe some antidotes to counter act some of the nasty stuff those women have. I'll need counter sedating agents, two counter paralytics and adrenaline. Put them with rapid delivery systems and we'll be in business."_

"_As you wish Jack."_ She answered looking at the medications. _"There is a list on the vid screen with dosages and the darts are in the cabinet."_

"There you are." Riddick said looking at Jack who was deep in thought sipping coffee in the med lab.

"Good morning Riddick." Sasha told him beeping as her files were modified.

"Good morning Doc. How's our girl today?" he said coming up behind Jack and kissing her on her neck.

"Tired, in need of a break to be honest Riddick, your sexual appetite is causing Jack's body to require more rest. Give her a break big guy. She might like it when you have intercourse, who wouldn't given your size and physical dimensions, but she's got her limits. Her body needs more rest."

"Shut up Sasha. He's not done anything I haven't wanted to do. Don't listen to her, she's just mothering me again." She told him finishing her blood sample and inputting it into the computer's laboratory diagnostic tool. "I'm fine."

"Doc, what do you mean?" he said suddenly concerned. His scowl at Jack was very familiar. He stood with his hands folded against his chest and he was listening while Jack avoided his gaze altogether.

"She has been experiencing increased periods of sleep deprivation and I worry that she's going to drop from exhaustion." She said as Jack rolled her eyes. "Despite her athletic body, Jack has her limits. You need to remind her of that since she ignores my indicators to the contrary."

"Is this true?" he asked feeling his anger rise. She'd been keeping that from him and he wasn't going to let her wear herself down.

"I just had a scan and she said I was perfectly healthy. Didn't you Sasha?" she said glaring.

"That is true. But I also said you needed to eat meat rich in iron. That you needed rest or you would collapse and if you choose to be in harms way you need to be at your best."

"Doc," he said glaring at her "what do you recommend?"

"I recommend, besides keeping her away from stressful situations, (that might not be possible given your mission to stop the bounty hunters), that you make her eat fresh meats high in vitamins, and make her sleep. The condition her body is in requires that she needs to pay attention to sign of physical exhaustion. She will not be able to maintain the level of strength without a break in the routine."

His death-glare at her made her feel guilty. "Traitor." She snapped as she went back to the console.

"Jack why didn't you tell me you weren't sleeping. I mean, you're supposed to tell me when something's wrong." He said walking towards her. "Pushing yourself isn't smart. That's a weakness we can't afford right now."

"Riddick, contrary to pain in the assover there, I'm fine. I don't need her telling me that working my ass off so we can get this bounty off our heads, is stressful. I'd appreciate it if you both gave me a break. I'll rest when this is over, not before."

"Jack." He said low and determined. "You're no good to me if you drop. Doc, what can we do in the short term?"

"More sleep, fresh food, limited sexual relations, no all-niters Riddick, an occasional tryst is acceptable but no marathons."

Jack blushed furiously. Riddick laughed loudly. "I get it Doc, but that's kind of hard, seeing that she's such a beautiful woman. But I understand. Moderation."

"Thank you Riddick. Jack needs her rest or she will drop, it's only a matter of time. And if she's taken she'll need all her strength to fight off the pilgrims that wish to harm her." Sasha said despite the vocal protests from Jack.

His hands fisted at his sides when he realized that his medical computer knew that she could be harmed as a result of the plan they had in the works. "You told her?"

"I explained why she was being refitted yes. Get over it." She snapped feeling betrayed.

"Jack that shit is not happening." He growled pacing around the med lab. _He's not getting his hands on you._

"You can't be sure of that and I want to make sure that if something goes wrong that we have our asses covered. Deal with it."

She took the loaded med tools and put them into her bag and walked out of the med lab so angry with the two of them for being so nosy that Riddick stood there a full five minutes thinking.

"Riddick?" Sasha asked as he sat on the stool and looked out into the hallway.

"Yeah Sasha. What aren't you telling her?" he asked walking around looking at the console.

"She's terrified you're going to leave her or die. I know she doesn't say it but she's experiencing periods of heightened levels of anxiety and it's consistent with the elevated blood pressure I scanned this morning."

"Tell me how I can help." He asked sitting on the stool and rubbing his face and hands.

"Calm her, tell her how you feel, often...and don't die." Was all she told him.

"Thanks Doc, I will." He said walking towards the bridge.


	37. Coming home

For Sita: yes, two in one day

"Jack, we're only thinking about you." He told her as they prepped for landing.

"I know tough guy." She told him looking at the hand held. She was blowing him off and he knew it. She was pulling away again and he had to stop it.

"Are you trying to piss me off?" he asked flipping switches. His contact lenses took the special glint out of his eye. He sat in dark pants, a white linen shirt and a deep crème robe. He was the pilgrim and when she looked at him she heard the man she loved but saw a stranger.

"No, but if it gets you going, my job is done." She said sarcastically. Her hair was tied up ready to don the veil, the shadour and pretend once again.

"Take your smart ass pills this morning Jack?" He asked rubbing his face with his hand.

"Nosy much?" she snapped putting heavy eyeliner on to hide the lashed green eyes he loved. These disguises were necessary and he knew she hated returning at all.

_Soon kid, and then we're free._

"Jack, we're gonna be just fine. Look at me." He ordered. She did and his face gave her the support he knew she needed. "It's okay to be scared. I wouldn't have it any other way. Fear keeps you on your toes. Just use it to make you harder."

"Okay, but for the record, this fucking sucks." She said handing him a device roughly the size of his hand.

"What's this?" he asked looking at it.

"First aid kit...Sasha, mobile and feisty. It's got all her functions and she's equipped to deliver emergency meds, like anti-sedating, anti-paralytics and pain meds. Couldn't let all that modified programming going to waste." She told him trying to smile. "Wave this over the patient and she'll give you the lowdown on what's wrong. Best I could do under the circumstances."

"Like in the movies?" he asked inspecting it. "Nice work kid. So this has AI too?"

"Yes, she's fully independent thinking. Remember when I'm flat on my back to wave it over starting at the top of my head. She's got voice recognition, ask her a question and she'll answer it. If things get fucked slap her into the consol and it'll update her main frame so she can get to work."

"You keep thinking you're gonna get hurt I'm gonna kick your ass Jack." He growled looking at her put on the black abaya and veil covering her hair.

"Riddick shut up. You need to know just in case. I can't talk if I'm unconscious."

Riddick was angry, but knew she was thinking ahead. "You need to know this shit in case I'm not around and we come in with casualties. Remember there's others beside us that are gonna get in as deep."

"Just stick with me and we'll be fine." But he knew she thinking on her feet. _That's my girl._

"Ready to put down there wife?" he asked trying to get her to smile. "What's our names this week?"

"Kasim Farad, trader and transport captain of the ship, Pilgrim's Promise. My name is Shamara Farad."

"What does your name mean?" he smirked knowing she never picked something that didn't mean something.

"Ready for battle." She said looking at him and smiling.

"Prepare for landing woman." He quipped and she flipped him off.

"Promises, promises." He contended and they were back on track once again. "Hellion Prime, this is Pilgrim's Promise requesting permission to land."

A voice on the comms directed them to hanger bay L-5-9 and Riddick put the ship down just as easy as you please.

* * *

Salim and Kalifa along with ten men stood on the platform when Riddick walked off, a small, cloaked figure walking slightly behind him.

"Kasim, my friend, it has been years since you have come to us. What good fortune!" He said loudly greeting him in the time-honored tradition. "Allahu Akbar."

"Allahu Akbar. It's been a long time." Riddick said walking next to him. The hackles came up on his neck and he looked at Jack and knew she felt it too.

"We have an apartment prepared for you and your wife. It is small but will be good for your needs." He told him walking him towards their villa. Riddick could feel eyes on him and he knew that Salim was being followed.

They walked towards the home that Salim had acquired for them. Once inside they closed the door and the shades feeling more secure once the sentries were in place.

Jack removed the veil and scarf covering her face and ran to her old teacher. "It is good to see you again."

"Jack, it is good to see you." He said touching her face with a hand. "Many things have happened since you left."

Riddick felt Salim's unease and watched his face fall to one of regret and despair.

He began in Arabic, Jack translating for Riddick, her face contorting as she spoke.

"Yasmine, stayed with Imam right after we escaped donning my veil and pretending to be me. Imam went to services with her, pretending to be me, and held them off for weeks but when the men came to claim me, the veil was removed and she was beaten and taken. They killed Imam."

She began to cry. "NO! Not Baba. What happened to Yasmine?"

Salim began to speak again and her cries got worse. She looked at Riddick her heart ripping apart in her chest. "She was taken in my place. He raped and mutilated her and left her body in the street as a message to others."

Jack broke down into racking sobs and ran from the room. Riddick looked at Salim and followed her.

In Arabic, Salim spoke quietly to the men as Riddick walked passed them. He watched as they looked away and he wondered what he had told them but his first thoughts were to comfort her. She had lost two people that she held dear and the only one she had left was him.

He returned later quiet and solitary. "How is she?"

Riddick sat in a large leather chair and removed his robe. He felt like a fool and didn't want to keep up the pretense if he was in private. "Sleeping. She's pretty upset and I gave her something to make her rest. She's been burning it at both ends since we left and she's ready to drop."

"I have spent my life seeking peace and justice for my people. This is one time I will not abide by the murder of my daughter and Imam." He stood next to Riddick feeling a rage he had been suppressing for weeks.

"We're gonna take care of holy man. He won't be going to his god unavenged. You can take care of Yasmine. She was a nice kid, and I would do the same in your place. What did you say to your men earlier?"

"I warned them." He said plainly.

"About me?" he said feeling oddly satisfied that he still had that presence, the ability to scare the shit out of people.

"About Jack. I told them that she was your woman and they would die if any of them touched her. I am right aren't I?"

Salim looked at him like a father, and that made Riddick laugh, a deep hearty laugh. "Yes."

"Is she happy?" he asked pouring him some water. "Here, a drink among friends who care for the same woman."

"I think so." He answered lifting the glass to his lips.

"Good, she has had deep love for you for as long as I have known her, thank you for loving her back." He said walking out of the villa and into the night.

* * *

Three days passed and every night Jack clung to Riddick like she did when they had escaped T2. Nightmares plagued her and more once did she shake with fury mixed with terror in his arms.

She would wake begging him to take her, sink deep into her to prove that she was alive, and he did so, whispering that he loved her over and over.

Whenever anyone other than Salim and Kalifa would come to see them, Jack would be fully veiled, a shadour, a full-length abaya covering even her face in place. Her heart stopped for a moment when she saw a veiled figure in the doorway and smiled when she saw it was Farah, Kalifa's wife.

She ran to her and smiled relieved to not feel so alone. She was grieving for Yasmine and Imam and to find someone who she had a relationship was good.

But Riddick didn't feel so at ease. They had spent the afternoon alone and he came to her shortly before her guest arrived.

"_Hey, gonna do some recon. We're going in two days. Rest Jack. I love you."_ He told her pulling her into his arms. _"More than anyone in my life."_

She looked up at him her eyes full of unshed tears, _"Riddick, you're gonna make me cry again you know." _

"_Didn't mean to. Just stating facts."_ He told her kissing her cheeks and wiping away the tears. _"Do something for me?"_

"_What?"_ she asked rubbing her cheek against his hand.

"_When this is all over and we're free, stay with me, you know, like with the kids, the garden, the cooking the meals kind of thing."_ He said suddenly nervous. She could feel his tension in his muscles and she looked at him quizzically.

"_Are you asking me to marry you?"_ she said in almost a whisper. Never in a million years did she thought she'd hear that from his lips.

"_Sounds like it doesn't it? Yeah Jack, I am."_ He replied looking down at her, his silvery orbs letting her see him in the most natural of lights.

She was silent for a moment_. "I'm a murderer, and a convict Jack, but I love you and wouldn't want to live my life free without you."_

Her eyes stared into him and she looked up at him her heart full and happy. _"When this is over Riddick, you got yourself a wife."_

As his lips touched hers in a gentle dance of tongues and feather light kisses, Richard B. Riddick was his most happy because his Jack loved him and their torment was almost over.


	38. Old friends come to call

The evil plot bunnies are afoot. NO flames please you all know it had to go this way:

Review away and email me if you all think that I'm too mean.

Just as an FYI I uploaded 3 count em 3 chappies for your viewing pleasure.

* * *

"Oh my god, praise Allah you have returned safely." She cried joyfully when Jack opened the door. Farah Ibn Maz was a small woman, dark skinned petite bodied and dressed as a pilgrim donning a deep violet headscarf and a deep violet veil.

"Farah, I hope that you're not mad because I wasn't here for your birthday." She laughed embracing her like they were long lost sisters. She felt so grateful to have someone actually come and see her.

"Where is the large man I saw with the Imam? The one who was so frightening to look at." She said looking around. She removed her veil and clasped her hands squeezing them.

"He's out. Why?" she asked pulling her to the couch. Her face was warm and comforting and Jack's guard lowered as she chitchatted and caught up.

"No reason." She said looking around suspiciously. "Did you know that Faisal's brother Akbar has taken Anne to wife."

Her stomach went sour at the thoughts of Anne under the perverse control of Faisal Mohammed or anyone in his family. She poured a glass of water and watched Jack go to the window deep in thought. She placed a liquid that she held in her pocket into the water and placed the glass back down on the table. Jack took a drink and sighed. The only expression on Jack's face was regret at not staying to fight.

"I am sorry Jack. I shouldn't have said anything. Ziza has been in a fit of rage since your escape. You know how she rules the harem for the family." She told her walking around and looking at her surroundings. "Kalifa has talked much about you since you left and I wondered if he…no matter. It is so good to see you. If you need anything you have only to call on me, I am _your friend_."

They sat for a while and Jack felt at ease, unusually calm. "I need friends just now, with Imam dead, Yasmine dead." Her mind wandered and she felt a little tired, not unusual since she had been feeling that way for almost a week.

She watched Jack take a drink and smiled.

"Anne is happy. My cousin treats her well." She lied putting her veil. "I can arrange for her to see you if you like. I know she'd love that. To be able to see you and know that you're all right."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." She said drinking the rest. "Hey, what's the matter, why… Farah…you…bitch…" she tried to say as she slumped against the chair dropping the glass.

For the moments before she blacked out, Jack thought of murder. She glared at Farah,

"My cousin will be so pleased to finally have you, Adeni. My place back in the family will be secure now. I will deliver them you. Whore that you are."

"Why?" she asked stumbling falling on the floor. Her limbs were weak and the room seemed out of focus. She was taking deep breaths trying to fight the weakness and call of the unconscious.

"The pictures you whore." She spat as she raised the shades up and down twice, a definite signal. "You think I didn't know you peddled yourself to my husband, to my cousin, to every man that you came into contact with?"

"You were my f-rien-d…" she choked as the room spun faster.

" You have no friends Adeni, whores never do. I am a Mohammed first. You better get used to that." She sneered as Jack noticed the sound of gunfire. "For soon, you will be too."

"Kalifa loved _you_." Jack swore as the men broke through the door and grabbed her. "I'm gonna kill you. Remember that…"

"Kalifa cast me out!" She said kicking her in the back. Jack didn't give her the satisfaction of crying out.

The small book that Jack had on her table showed a blinking light since the strange woman arrived. Farah did not notice that it recorded everything that had occurred.

"Take her before the infidel comes back." She said placing the veil on her face and confidently walking out the door.


	39. Jack's missing

To Rose: Don't we all want to slice and dice that bitch.

To everyone. Thenext few chappies will be kinda violent. PLEASE BE ADVISED

* * *

Riddick's perch atop the building overlooking Faisal Mohammed's compound was dark and he smelled Salim and two of his men before he saw them and groaned. When could he get a moments peace to think about things?

He put down his binoculars and looked up slowly. "Riddick." Salim said quietly as he removed the mask covering everything but his eyes. "You must come quickly. Jack has been taken."

Riddick's breath stopped in his chest and his body tensed with swelling rage. Dressed in black, and silent as the grave, Riddick jumped down off the ledge and ran towards the house.

_Shouldn't have left her. Should have taken her with me. Damn it!_

When they got to the villa, Riddick stopped just short of the courtyard. The front door was open and two guards were dead in the doorway. It looked like there had been a struggle.

_Not long an hour maybe two_, he thought to himself.

With two shots to the head, each lay slumped over. The blood was fresh he could smell it. Inside, the tables were overturned and there was a broken glass on the floor. Both men ran inside, taking a cursory look at the scene. Kalifa stood in the doorway his face a mask of shame.

Riddick shot him a glare that if he were any other man would have signified his coming death, but this was a man he trusted and he needed to find out the facts before his animal side took over and exacted revenge.

Riddick noticed a few things that gave him hope that she was still alive. The lack of blood, the overturned furniture, and the hand held was blinking.

Salim walked carefully towards him, removing his cloak and cowl, not touching him but speaking calmly. "She is alive. Mohammed has her. Farah has betrayed us. Kalifa is sure of it."

He had been speaking low and walked inside from inspecting the bodyguards. "He has her? How can you be sure?" Riddick said feeling as if he was going to explode.

"They left this." Salim told him handing him the medallion and moving discreetly back.

His tortured roar echoed through the small space and his fist found its way a space of bare wall. With the medallion still clutched in his hand he leaned against the broken part of the wall with his eyes closed. After a few minutes, he placed the necklace around his neck and stormed out the back door. Salim sat on the couch, amidst the broken furniture and took a ragged breath. He knew the torment he felt, and left Riddick to go off into the courtyard alone.

* * *

"Oh my fucken head." Jack groaned trying to sit up. _Great, just great…_

Jack awoke with a massive headache. She knew she had to have been drugged and the first thing she noticed was the restraints. She was on her side, her legs pushed up against her stomach and she felt the cold tile of the floor against her cheek.

How long have I been laying here? 

As she felt her heart beating wildly in her chest, she knew that they had kidnapped her from the villa and given her to Mohammed. _Damn it! _

She leaned up and looked around tentatively. She was alone. _Thank God for that._

The small room was bare save for the mat on the floor and the sconces on the wall holding lights that made the room dim and dingy.

_At least they sprung for the mat._

She was vaguely aware of the voices; the heated shouts that had brought her to awareness were coming closer. She looked at herself, bound at the ankles, and her hands bound behind her back.

_No blood, no pain except the bruise on her back from Farah's little 'fuck you'._

She was in remarkably good shape. But that wasn't good either, it meant that she was going to be saved for something worse later.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and began remembering what Riddick had taught her. She could hear his voice in her head and that made her smile. It calmed her. **Know your surroundings; try to remember where you are.**

_Fucked, that's what I am. That bitch Farah, she's first on my list._

She chuckled seeing Riddick in her mind scowling at her.

_Okay, she drugged me. Could I be anymore fucking stupid? You're gonna be fucken pissed at me when you get a hold of me._

**What do you hear**? She heard him crooning in her ear.

_Voices, I hear them, arguing. Two women and one man. Old bitch, Ziza, younger woman, gotta be Farah wanting more opportunities to kick my ass._

**What do you smell? Come on Jack**, he asked her.

_Fear, but that's me. A male coming closer and the old woman. They're coming towards me._

**What do you see?**

_Movement on the other side of the door through the underneath of the door. The door opens and I see one male, two females and more males coming down the hallway. The men are armed and Ziza is pissed. Farah is smug and both those bitches are history when I get loose._

"Lights, 100 percent." The old woman ordered standing over her. Ziza looked down at her a black headscarf covering her gray hair leaving only an old weathered face to hurl insults at her. She glared at Jack looming over her in her long black dress her arms at her sides in tight little fists.

"Hello Bitch." Jack spat looking up trying to adjust to the light. The old crone looked menacing in the light. She looked old and withered, mean and evil. "Long time no see…"

"Silence!" she snarled, back handing her hard against the face drawing blood. "Yusef, have your men bring the Adeni to me. She'll learn respect quick enough." She said watching them forcibly drag her down the hall.

"I'm gonna kill you bitch!" she shouted as she kicked and screamed. Two men, dressed in deep crimson , wearing combat boots and had hand guns on their waists, half dragged half carried Jack towards a bedroom.

They threw her on the bed where Ziza held a knife in her hand. "Hold the Adeni down."

Two more men came in and they held her down while Ziza cut away her pants. "Don't fucken touch me you bitch!"

Ziza backhanded Jack as she tried to get off the bed. "Silence whore!" she spat cutting away the fabric. The boots were also removed and her socks, and the realization came to Jack in a strangled gasp. _NO! RIDDICK! OH GOD!_

"Get your fucken hands off me fat ugly twat." She screamed as the knife cut away her panties. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Jack's face paled when she realized what Ziza was stripping her, but it was when she was nearly nakedshe began to struggle harder. "Move and I'll cut you Adeni. Hold her down."

"I'm gonna kill you Ziza, don't fucken touch me!" she screamed as Ziza put her hand between her legs and began to examine her.

With a sadistic smile on her face, Ziza shoved her hand deep inside her pushing against her abdomen trying to determine something. "You've been breached." She shouted grabbing her cane and motioned her to be flipped on her stomach.

The cane hit her bare backside and thighs at least ten times before she cried out in pain and when she did Ziza spat, "Tattooed, and a whore, you spread your legs for any man, don't you? You will pay. You will pay."

The sound the crack of the cane made dulled the pain when her body reacted to the sharp wood against her skin. She felt oddly numb and when Ziza grabbed the back of her hair and pulled her up she snapped, "Wait." Ziza stared at her defiant as she grabbed the choker off her neck and placed it around her throat.

"That was a mistake." Jack croaked before surrendering to the coming blackness. "I'm gonna kill you. Slowly and I'm gonna enjoy it."

* * *

Salim approached the courtyard where Riddick had been since they discovered that Jack had been taken. "Riddick, This is asking for you. I do not understand what it is but it has asked to be taken to you."

The hand held pc was blinking and Riddick placed it on the table. "Riddick?" Jack's voice said, and his heart nearly broke at the sound of her saying his name.

But he knew it was Sasha and not the love of his life. "Sasha, tell me what you've got." he said his voice breaking.

Salim stood next to him and watched as a holographic representation of Jack and Farah came into view.

"Jack invented this?" Salim asked looking at the image.

"Yeah. Ain't she a smart kid?" Riddick asked. "Sasha, begin playback."

"As you wish Riddick, please be aware that this is violent and Jack would want me to tell you that you need to remain calm. She knew this could happen and told me that you could get very angry."

"Sasha, I'm a big boy, play it back." He said removing his goggles and sitting on the ledge.

They watched, Kalifa walking in silently behind them and watchedKalifa's ex-wife slip the drug into the water and watch Jack drink it, and smile.

He shot the younger man a death glare and flinched as they manhandled her.He blew completely when Farah kicked Jack's unconscious body.

"End playback." Riddick said through his teeth. He lunged at Kalifa grabbing him by his throat and slamming him against the wall. "I'm gonna kill you."

"Riddick, she was cast out weeks ago. She has been away since then." Salim told him begging him to release his son.

"How did she know where we were?" he demanded as Kalifa dangled two inches off the ground.

"She was cast out because she laid down with another man, one of my father's guards. Instead of killing her, as is my right, I cast her out. We found out the guard was still seeing her…" he croaked as Riddick released him.

"Where is this guard now?" he growled putting his goggles back on and taking out his shiv.

"Faisal Mohammed's compound. Farah is Faisal's cousin." Salim said in a voice trying to calm the rage he felt.

"If Jack's dead, I'm killing all of you." He said in a powerfully menacing voice.

"Riddick, son, calm yourself. You do her no good like this. Jack will be alive, because Faisal wants her still. That is the only thing we can count on, he has never been denied anything before and she will at least be alive long enough for him to…"

Riddick stopped him from finishing that sentence with a murderous glare. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to take a step back. If he led with his heart he'd get them killed.

_Get Jack._

_Kill everything in my path_.

_Get the fuck out of Dodge._

_Get her to the Ship._

"Where will she be kept?" He asked opening his eyes again and looking at the hand held.

"Women's quarters until..." Kalifa told him rubbing his throat and thanking Allah that he did not finish him.

"Think Kalifa, you have been there before, tell us where?" his father asked as Riddick pressed the functions on the pc.

"Faisal's rooms are on the far side of the courtyard. He will keep her there. According to Anne, our friend from school, he will be returning tonight."

"But she is wife to Akbar brother of Faisal, how is it that you speak with her?" Salim asked suddenly angered and embarrassed.

"Some things father are better left unsaid." He told him looking away.

"I don't care who he's fucking, just lets get moving." Riddick snapped looking towards the door.

Salim stormed out of the room knowing that Kalifa had been unfaithful to his wife with Anne. Kalifa stood there and waited then told Riddick, "We have a few hours. Let's go to the compound and see what we can see. I'm going for Anne. This ends tonight."

"You got that right." Riddick growled again, grabbing his shiv and putting into its back sheath.


	40. A spy on the inside

Jack had no idea how long she laid there on her stomach but when she opened her eyes she knew two things, she was naked, and she was covered in bloody welts all down her back. She was laying face down shackled to the bedposts by handcuffs and chains.

It was dark in the room and she could tell there were guards posted outside her door when she heard a small female voice ask to be permitted to enter. "Lights seventy percent." The veiled voice said quietly.

The bright light hurt her eyes and she felt a sting hot pain all down her back when she tried to move. "Go away, I don't want any of you fucken bitches to touch me."

"Is that any way to treat your best friend?" she asked looking at Jack and carrying a small satchel filled with medication. She removed the veil and smiled brightly at her. Hope flooded Jack's body as the small blonde girl went to hug her.

"Anne, oh shit!" she said lifting her head. "Oh my God! What the hell are you doing here?"

"They married me off to Akbar, I've been here for two weeks. Sit still and let me see what that witch did to you." She said lifting the blood soaked sheet that had been thrown over her. "Oh Jack!" she cried.

From the top of her buttocks to the backs of her knees were striated red welts that bled in certain spots. "How bad am I?"

"Well Ziza sure kicked your ass." She said in a nervous chuckle. "She used that damned cane. Bet she got off on it too, that sadistic bitch."

"She had four guys holding me down so I think she had the advantage. You shouldn't be here." Jacksmirked ather when she leaned up to take a look. "Riddick's gonna be pissed when he sees that. He loves my ass."

"I am so sorry. I tried to warn Kalifa but it was too late, she'd already gone to take you. You have no idea how much they hate you. Kalifa cast her out for sleeping with one of his father's guards, sent her packing back here in shame, apparently she found out about those pictures he took and did it to retaliate. She's been at the compound for weeks and his father only found out about it yesterday. She had the men watch for you and when you were your most vulnerable she went to the villa."

"Smart little _pilgrim_ isn't she?" Jack smirked as Anne tended to her welts. "Got anything in there for pain Anne? Son of a bitch that hurts."

"Yeah, got all kinds of stuff in here. You're gonna need to stay still. I need to talk to you and they're listening so I'm going to whisper."

"Fine just do it." She said quietly through her teeth as the salve went onto the welts. It sizzled at first bubbling around the broken skin then the pain dulled. "Thank you Anne. Jesus, how bad is it?"

"I'd say you'd be sleeping on your stomach for a while. But you've got bigger problems."

"No, wait can't I at least have a five minute rest from the world being completely fucked?" Jack asked looking towards Anne's blue eyes and seeing her look away.

"No sorry kid." she said adjusting her pale blue headscarf. The long shirt she wore complimented her pale coloring and she sat there looking through her medical bag for something else.

"You should get going. You'll get beaten." Jack told her as Anne took a brush and brushed the hair out of her face.

"I don't care. You need me and that's all that matters right now. Ziza is sleeping and that's a blessing in itself. Akbar is away with Faisal and they won't return until tonight."

"How long have I been here?" she asked looking at her friend.

"Almost 12 hours. They brought you in just after sunset." She answered putting away some of the dark fluid she'd been using on her wounds. "You've a nasty bruise on your back, I would assume Farah gave that to you. She's been bragging that she's the one who brought you in. Cast out! Kalifa should have killed her."

"I need you to do something. You need to go to the market, to make something special for Akbar. Get word to Kalifa and get the message to Riddick. He's gonna be pissed and worried sick. Give them as much information as you can. I need him to know that I'm ok." She begged, looking at Anne with unshed tears in her eyes.

"I will. You only have a few hours. Ziza plans on making you submit. But I will help if I can. Faisal knows that you're here. He's planning on bedding you then giving you to his brothers, then to his men, each having a turn, then he'll…"

"I get the picture, giant gang bang. Oh my favorite." She said trying to loosen the bonds that held her on the bed.

"I cannot release you. You know that. But I will give you this." Anne said injecting her with something.

"What the hell is that?" Jack asked looking up at her.

"It's something to give you some strength back. Give it a few hours and you should be as strong as ever." She told her trying to smile. "The salve will cauterize the wounds, by this afternoon and you'll be able to move."

"Tell Riddick he's got to come tonight. And bring Sasha. He'll know what I mean. You know Ziza's gonna drug me. That fat fuck couldn't and wouldn't dare try and nail me when I can fight back. I won't be able to defend myself."

"She's not knocking you out. She's been ordered to give you Bazrataki. It's a paralytic. You're to be fully aware when they start raping you. It is to teach you obedience."

Jack began to struggle against her bonds harder. "Anne you have to get to Riddick, find the antidote so I can fight. I'm gonna kill her Anne. I'm gonna strangle her with my bare hands. Then Farah's next."

"I'll take care of that, leave it to me. Don't worry Jack." She said tenderly, stroking her shoulder, "Take me with you."

"No problem." Jack told her as they quietly continued to chat.

* * *

Riddick sat silently in the room that he and Jack shared. He had not eaten nor drank since her abduction and when Kalifa knocked he did not move. He had known pure joy with Jack and he wanted nothing more than to turn back the clock and take her advice and run. He inhaled deeply still detecting her faint lingering scent.

Inside he sat reliving moments they had shared, touches, kisses, he remembered the sound of her voice, her laugh, and singing in the mess when she did think he'd hear her and he smiled.

He looked towards the door, sitting in the shadow and watched it open. Kalifa walked inside and only saw his silvery pupils in the darkness.

"What do you want?" he growled. His face was tired, he was weary and his heart was broken into a million pieces.

"You need to eat Riddick, and rest. I have news. You must come quickly. Anne is walking to the market and we may have a chance to get some information. Since she is husband to Akbar, she is permitted to walk with another one of the servants. Come, she is a good woman, someone Jack trusts. We may yet know what we can do."

Riddick rose and put his goggles on. "Riddick, you need to dress as a pilgrim."

"Yeah, be down in a minute." He said grabbing the clothes off the bed and watching as the young man closed the door.

Riddick walked down stairs looking very different than his normal bad ass self. Wearing a deep brown robe and a beige tunic he covered his silver eyes with the contact lenses Jack had given to him. His face showed a shadow of nearly a week, and his head had a dark shadow of deep black hair.

"Kasim. We are going to the butcher. Will you come?" Salim said standing next to a strange man. "This is Hafaz. He owns the shop. He is pleased that you expressed a desire to buy some of his fine meats for your ship."

"Yeah, let's go." He snarled looking passed the short portly man and walked out the door.

Salim explained what Riddick had said to him and Riddick wanted to know what the small man had said after that. "He remarked that you're a very chatty man."

Riddick laughed, the first real laugh since Jack's abduction.

Anne walked quietly, head down and the servant who walked with her carried herself just as conservatively. The young girl standing just behind her was a dark skinned skinny child who had been bought by the Mohammed family only days before. Anne had taken that fact and used it to her advantage by taking the girl underneath her wing and gaining her trust.

"You must not speak, and whatever you hear you must take to your grave. Understand?" she asked as they passed the café where many of the men sat and congregated.

The twelve year old nodded, proud to be in her confidence. "I will do my best."

Both women were veiled, Anne in a black abaya and deep blue veil. Her servant wore white, indicating her status. They walked into the butcher shop and stood quietly waiting for the shop owner, Mr. Hafaz, to appear. Anne, as was the custom, handed him a list of meats that she needed for the dinner she was needing to prepare and stood silent.

"Send the child to the back and let my wife get her the meats." He told her as the young girl walked behind the counter and to the back where his wife sat and waited for her.

Three men walked inside the shop from the side door, and she turned removing her veil. "Kalifa. Thank Allah." She said walking towards the three of them.

"You must be Riddick." She said looking at the tall man behind him. "I am glad that the lenses help you. I will get right to it. We don't have much time."

Riddick looked at her and her only. "Is she alive?"

"Yes, and she sends me a message to give to you. She says she's sorry that she "fucked up and that you need to hurry up and get her ass out of there." Those are her words mind you. She's relatively in good shape. Ziza had her beaten with her cane, after she examined her, with a fist. We have five hours before he comes back. She's being kept in his private apartments on the far side of the courtyard. Ziza has been ordered to give her Bazrataki; it is a paralytic. Then Faisal has ordered she is to be dressed, presented to him and he will take her then pass her to his 5 brothers, then to each of his men."

Riddick's jaw clenched and his chest tightened as a growl of rage escaped him.

"Riddick, Jack says you are to give me Sasha. Before I left her, she said it has a tracking device and that your computer will be able to locate her. She is smart, to develop this machine to help you. She says "get your ass moving". "

He laughed, "You tell her, that I'm coming and to keep her head down when the dying starts." He said handing herthe small handheld pc. "It's a medical diagnostic tool. You can scan her and let us know how bad off she is. Sasha said you can transmit data back and forth to if you need to. If you can get to Jack, get her to send word to me."

"I will, and Riddick?" she said looking into his face, "hurry. I will protect her if I can."

She turned to Kalifa walking away some who spoke to her in hushed low tones. Salim groaned as he turned away. It was clear to Riddick that something was going on between the two of them but he couldn't care about any of it, he just wanted Jack and that meant killing people.

"The women will be in the women's quarters right?" Riddick asked Anne after a few moments.

"Yes," she started, "why?"

"I don't kill women. Keep them out of my way, but let Ziza and Kalifa's ex out, I don't consider those two women. They're dead. They just don't know it yet."

Just then, Anne's servant walked out with the meats in a package and she walked with a veiled Anne out the door as if nothing happened.

Riddick watched them walk away and took a deep breath. "Come on, I want to go to my ship. I've got some things I need to get before the party starts. You coming?"

Both Kalifa and Salim looked at him and watched as his face contorted into a mask of rage. Neither of them dared countermand what he had asked of them. He was in animal mode and they knew better than to tempt fate, or a Furyan.


	41. Time to make a move

To all my faithful readers I have to say THANK YOU! I'm taking the next twenty four off and that's why I've updated twice.

**sorry for the cliffhanger there.... MUAHA HAHAHAH**

**

* * *

**Riddick walked into his bedroom and saw Jack everywhere. He inhaled and smelled her, felt her and sat against the bed he hugged her pillow and sat there silent. 

_God Jack, what have I done? You know I need you more than I have ever needed anyone. Please... don't give up._

The men stood in the hallway waiting for him to emerge knowing the silent pain he was going through. Salim and Kalifa both felt it. Dressed all in black, his face and head cleanly shaven; he walked towards them his face was all business.

"I have one speed; if you can't keep up don't bother." He snarled. Riddick walked to the doorway, took off his goggles and said, "Lights 20 percent."

"Riddick, we are out for blood tonight. We will follow you. Tell us what to do." Salim said walking closer to him.

Riddick began pulling weapons from the cabinet and put on a vest that would hold them. "Kill them all. Kill every single one of them. Anyone besides Jack and Anne you find out in the light dies. No exceptions except for Faisal, he's mine. That mother fucker is a dead man."

Riddick took two knives and put them at his sides, turned and centered himself, "Let's go."

* * *

Faisal Mohammed arrived with an entourage of ten men to a feast in his honor. He stood tall and foreboding in pristine white and crimson robes. He stood next to his brother Akbar and his brother Farad both looking menacing as the women served the food to them. 

Faisal sat on the dais and was served an elaborate meal. "I am fortunate tonight my brothers. The Adeni has been found and is waiting. I will feed my body then I will feast upon her. Then I will share her with all of you."

Anne, veiled and deathly silent served her husband, barbaric as his oldest brother his meal, hoping that the bastard would choke on it. Faisal's three younger brothers sat and laughed looking forward to taking her because they all knew she had bested Faisal months earlier and wanted livelier quarry.

"Mother, get the Adeni ready. Dress her...perfume her. It will be a very long night." he boasted putting food into his mouth.

"_For her_." Akbar laughed making some of the women cringe.

For the entire meal Anne watched and waited. The men ate like pigs and drank until they were carousing like schoolboys grabbing anything that came close enough. Ziza grabbed Farah and Anne from their waiting positions in the back of the room pulling them out into the hallway.

"Come with me." She ordered her abaya flowing behind her like a black wave. In her hand she held a flask and Anne could hear her footsteps clip clopping like a horse from the vid-discs she used to watch with Jack.

Anne watched Ziza and Farah sniggering and feeling rather smug. When they arrived at the room she was put in earlier that day, one of Faisal's bedchambers, Anne inwardly cringed hoping that Riddick would hurry.. Underneath her Abaya, Anne had Sasha, ready and waiting to help counteract whatever she would be given.

The men opened the door when Ziza approached them. "Yahla Yemshi" (Come on let's go.) "Hold her down."

The unshackled her and flipped her over exposing her back and legs to more pain because of the linen. "Drink this Maumas (whore)."

"Fuck you!" Jack snarled pulling at the men who held her. "I'm going to kill you bitch, wait and see, I'm gonna strangle the life out of you and watch you die!"

"Wait and see now, will I? Pathetic girl. My son will teach you manners and ride you like the beast you are." She said slapping her across the face drawing blood.

She roared against the men who held her. "I'm gonna fucken kill you. And your bitch too." She said glaring at Farah.

Ziza grabbed her head and forced her mouth open. Jack railed against her guards spat out what Ziza had tried to force down her throat. "That's right child, drink it down. You will learn. One way or the other, you will learn."

Anne's eyes teared as she watched Ziza look at Jack. She was getting off on the pain and fear she was inflicting. Now she knew where her sons learned to be so sadistic.

"Feeling your limbs getting heavy Adeni? Just enough to make you still, but no enough to make you die. Blink if understand me."

The fear in Jack's eyes was evidence enough. She couldn't move or talk but she was painfully aware of everything around her.

Inside Jack was a torrent of emotion. She was deathly afraid of what she would experience with no way of stopping it, and she was so enraged that if she had the power to move she would not only kill the three men holding her down but Ziza and Farah as well.

Triumphantly, Ziza looked at the two women who stood there silent, one heartbroken the other smug, and barked her demand, "Dress her, in white as my son wants. Perfume her like a baghi (prostitute). Farah, you will be rewarded for your faithfulness to the family."

Then Ziza walked out like a queen. Anne looked at Farah, who stood over her taunting Jack. "Go attend OmFaisal. (Ziza) I will dress her."

"She said both of us." Farah sneered poking Jack who looked around at them wanting blood.

"OUT! Cast out!" Anne shouted at her pushing her towards the door. Jack's death glare was enough to send Farah railing against her.

Farah sneered and laughed then spat on Jack before going. Once the door closed, she ran over to Jack. "Oh GOD! Jack, I know you can hear me. I have Sasha; we don't have a lot of time. I saw Riddick. He knows. Have hope Jack. He's coming… Access Mobile Medical Diagnostic Tool."

"Accessing. Hello how can I be of assistance?" a generic computer voice asked.

"I have a patient that has ingested a paralytic that needs to be neutralized." Anne said in a hurried frantic voice.

"Place the device over the patient and move it along the body." The generic tool crooned. "Scan complete."

"Report." Anne asked as Jack's frightened eyes looked at her.

"One gram of the paralytic cylcobenzaprine hydro bromide found in digestive system. To counteract the effects of this paralytic load ampoule number 1 and inject into the nearest vein. Approximate time to neutralization, two minutes."

Anne injected Jack as quickly as she could. "Jack I have to dress you. Give the medicine some time. I'm turning on the machine, try and talk. Maybe you can get Sasha to talk to you; Riddick should be in place outside the compound by now."

"Sasha..." Jack croaked as Anne pulled a long pair of white silk leggings and a skimpy white top that barely covered her breasts. She put bangles on each wrist and a pair of slippers on each foot.

"Jack is that you?" Sasha chimed in using Jack's voice. "Did you take the antidote?"

"Yes, Sasha. Be quiet the guards are coming. Anne you better get outa here. I have a feeling the shit's gonna hit the fan."

"Jack? Take these, you're gonna need them. Good luck. I plan on keeping Farah and Ziza out of the women's quarters. Riddick said he doesn't kill women, but said he'd make an exception for them. Oh God, they are coming." Anne told her handing her two knives. "I'm going to hide Sasha she's got a tracking beacon so Riddick can find you."

Jack laid back down and them just underneath her backside, ready whenever she needed them. Faisal was going to die; she just hoped Riddick would hurry.


	42. Bloodletting

**To all that have reviewed, **

**I have hit 100 Reviews. all because of you guys!!!! HUGS!!!**

**please be advised.**

**There are scenes of EXTREME violence. If you have a faint stomach, turn back now.**

**Let the blood letting begin**.

* * *

Riddick had been to many planets in the four years that he separated himself from Jack. He'd done things that he wasn't proud of but he had ceased to kill anyone who wasn't a merc, or those who had the balls to fuck with him. 

But tonight, the one night he put his new found humanity aside, he planned on killing a whole hell of a lot of people. The reason was to save the one woman who loved him, the one who mattered, the reason why he decided to rejoin the human race in the first place.

In the years he spent in the slam, he'd escaped from some pretty secure facilities, but never had he intentionally wanted to break into one. Kalifa and Salim did their best to brief him on the structures that made up Faisal Mohammed's compound but nothing prepared him for the task of having to scale two walls, and kill a dozen men before he got to the second floor.

The adobe structure was not as well lit as he expected and he had sat on the stone wall listening to the revelry of the feast for nearly an hour before he decided it was time to move. He had heard enough.

"How many guards?" he asked standing on a wall off from the roof. The night was black, the way he liked it, no moons, barely any light and he thanked Imam's god that Salim and Kalifa weren't fucking amateurs.

"Ten to twenty total, at least a dozen on the first floor, two outside Faisal's quarters and two outside the women's quarters." Kalifa whispered adjusting his pulse weapon.

Riddick opted for his shivs. He fought better when the meat hit metal although if given the opportunity, he'd pick up any weapon and use it if it meant saving Jack. He looked down at the hand held PC, no bigger than a small book and quietly hit the keys. "Sasha, give me Jack's location." He said in a low calm voice.

"Twenty five meters down from your current location. Be advised that there are two guards outside her door and there are others coming. No doubt to start that beating they promised her. Be advised they have guns but no pulse weapons."

"What's her condition?" he asked quietly adjusting his position on the far wall.

"Nothing I can't fix. She was beaten but no permanent damage has occurred. She's been drugged and given the antidote but it may not neutralize it in time to save her from…"

He stopped her mid sentence not wanting to think about that, "We go in from the far courtyard. I don't care if you see a kid out in the hallway, if it ain't Jack or Anne," looking at Kalifa, "kill them. I don't have time to fuck around."

"I will not kill a woman or a child." Salim stated as plainly as he could without making Riddick angry.

"You will if they've got a gun pointed at your head." He growled. "Let's go."

Riddick adjusted Sasha back into his vest and dropped down into the courtyard without a sound. The darkness made it easier for him to see and he was able to find at least two guards he could kill without any problems. His animal side had emerged and he embraced it because it meant no remorse, no humanity, just pure rage.

It was time to start killing again.

* * *

Anne stood outside the women's quarters wanting desperately to run and hide. The peach stone walls were bright and she realized that it gave her position away too easily, dressed in her black abaya and veil, but she had a mission of her own. She wouldn't let Ziza or Farah find sanctuary with the other women who's only crime was to have been married into a barbaric family. 

She wanted them to die, painfully. She wanted revenge.

She locked the door shut behind her and broke the key off in the lock leaving her and the two most evil women in New Mecca to deal with the oncoming fray. The guards, preoccupied with the noise from the feast, barely noticed the metallic snapping sound her key made when it broke of in the lock. She secretly hoped that she could witness them get their just rewards but knew that when death came it would be swift and painful, then she would be free.

In her hand was a pulse weapon, one she had stolen from the weapons' locker during the feast and she held it underneath her abaya as she walked. Her hand shook as she padded down the dimly lit hall. She tried to make it back upstairs when she heard Akbar and Faisal along with his four other brothers still conscious after their debauched feast making their way to his chamber where a drugged Jack lay helpless. She hoped not so helpless now, since she had taken the antidote, but her hope was short lived when Akbar caught sight of her and told her to come to him.

She looked at him like a deer in the headlights. "No!" she whispered frantic and turning tail and breaking out into a run.

"Better go catch your wife there brother, you may need her to fix up our little diversion. She's good with a needle and thread, isn't she? Maybe she might even want to join us?" Faisal ordered laughing as he and his brothers adjusted themselves in anticipation of diving into the Adeni and savaging her like the other women.

Akbar, a smaller and thinner version of his older brother half walked, half ran towards Anne as she made her way to the courtyard. (This being the very same courtyard where Riddick, Salim and Kalifa had just dispatched two guards and were working on killing three more.)

Riddick seemed to enjoy the darkness more than his partners as his two shivs moved with surgical precision through the increasing melee. The primal part of Riddick that wanted revenge for all the running that he had to do over the years, the scared looks in Jack's eyes he'd had to endure because of the nightmares they had caused, and the nightmares of his own past, felt acutely alive when his hands got messy with blood.

"Where the fuck are they all coming from?" he shouted as six more came into view. He didn't care his one concern was getting up those stairs and down the hall.

"GO Riddick. We shall take it from here." Salim told him taking out his scimitar.

Riddick's eyes darted from Salim and Kalifa to the doorway where he saw a girl running. His heart leapt in his chest thinking it could be Jack but when the veil came off and a snow white blonde came into view he knew it had to be Kalifa's woman, and on her heels was a mini version of the man he wanted to kill. He shouted to Kalifa who took his direction and ran passed her giving her only a cursory glance as he disappeared into the corridor.

Anne appeared and screamed taking the attention off of Riddick and centering it on Kalifa who had just killed another guard and turned his attention menacingly on Akbar.

* * *

Jack lay helpless on the bed and began to feel the cold steel of the shivs against her skin through the satin that covered her buttocks. She looked towards the door and knew that it wouldn't be long before the wolves were not only at the door but coming in for a bite to eat. 

She cursed herself for allowing this to happen. It wasn't like she'd planned it. _Remember what he taught you, she thought to herself. How many can you tell are coming?_

_Listen to their footsteps. Big man, that had to be Faisal, that fat fuck. Two smaller men, lighter, had to be his brothers, two guards outside the door, and I can't tell how many more damn it._ They were talking loudly which made it harder for her to determine exactly how many.

_I'm screwed if I can't get off this bed. God Riddick! Where the fuck are you?_

The door opened and he stood staring at her. His mouth dropped and through the sheer fabric of the veil she could see the drunken lust in his eyes.

_Oh shit…Oh shit … _she thought in a panic.

She was dressed so provocatively that there wasn't much left to the imagination. His brothers, close on his heels, congratulated themselves for being so fortunate to have the chance to savage a beautiful woman. Their taunts and sneers began and Jack felt sick and cold inside.

In a pair of sheer genie pants in gold and white, the color of a virgin, and a top that stopped just underneath her breasts and barely covered her arms she laid with a veil of pure white covering her face. Her hurried breaths of panic blew it up and down, exciting the men around her who touched the skin they would devour with sadistic glee.

"Adeni, so nice to see you." he said in his most sadistic voice. "I have waited and searched for some time for you. You are a very expensive baghi and I plan on getting my money's worth. Your flesh will be sweet and I will savor the pain I will cause you. You will learn obedience, and you will bow to me."

"Not fucken likely you asshole. Get away from me you limp dick! What you can't get it up by yourself, you need an audience to get you off you fat fuck?" she asked in a slurred put-on voice. The drug had worn off but her limbs were still slow to respond and she would have a very hard time fighting him off.

She resigned herself to the fact that he was going to kill her, that Riddick wouldn't make it in time to save her so she figured she wouldn't give the son of a bitch the satisfaction of seeing how terrified she was.

"No, once I am finished, they will also have a taste." He told her removing his robe and taking his tunic off leaving him bare chested an ominous.. "It's only fair, we always share don't we my brothers?"

They all laughed and surrounded her taking their robes off leaving them clad in only their tunics. They all looked feral and stank of wine, leering at her taunting her in Arabic. The rage inside her was swelling and she knew that she had to do something or she would be in serious trouble.

_God Riddick hurry the fuck up. I can't fight all of them off me._

"Fuck you all." she spat as she tried to move but couldn't manage to get off the bed. She rolled onto one side still clutching the knives Anne gave her, but the way the fabric of her outfit laid, she still had the element of surprise.

"That Adeni, is the idea. You will fuck us all... More to the point, _we_ will fuck you, OVER and OVER." he spat slapping her back down and splitting her lip. "And you will bleed for us, from every orifice and we will know you in every way."

"Is that the best you got 5 minute man?" she snarled spitting blood in his face causing his brothers to laugh at him.

"She knows your number Faisal." His younger brother Farad said standing far enough away to taunt him.

"Bitch! I will kill you when we are done, I will slit you starting from your sweet honey pot to that beautiful set of breasts. Silence woman!"

"Not on your life little man! You couldn't get hard in a whore house. Fuck you." she said suddenly feeling strength enough to fight. Her knife came up and sliced his chest, a superficial laceration but one that caught him off guard.

"Bitch, you cut me. Take her my brothers, I will make you pay for that…" he growled holding his chest. He backhanded her face and punched her torso, left and right, pummeling her enraged that she had cut him.

His brothers grabbed her arms and legs and he took the knife away from her and ripped her pant legs away revealing tatters of fabric covering her pelvis. Their hands pawed her sensitive flesh and pinched her nipples jeering at her until she screamed in pain while Faisal undressed.

"Don't fucken touch me you son of a bitches!" she screamed as she flailed against them.

"Move again, maumas (whore) and I will stick that knife so deep into you that you will beg me to die." He said lowering his trousers. The more she fought him the more he wanted her, he wanted to sink deep into her and rip her to shreds.

He wanted to tear her down, destroy her in the only way that made him feel alive. He held the knife to her throat as he leaned towards her, the fleshy part of him protruding towards her as his rancid breath choked her.

"You will die you mother fucker. You will not take me alive." She screamed kicking and screaming as his brothers held her down. "It won't be me you're taking, it won't be me!!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!"

He punched her hard in the face, knocking her senseless. It was then he grabbed her hips and pulled her almost off the bed leaning in to rip into her with his engorged erection taunting her bloodied thighs.

Riddick slammed opened the door and they all stopped dead in their tracks, Faisal's hands still on her hips. Their eyes went from the tall man they had recognized from that night in Imam's house who had claimed her for himself, to the two dead guards littering the doorway then back to their brother.

"Get the fuck away from her." They heard him growl, and watched as he descended upon them. In a cold animalistic fury, all they saw was a flash from his slivery eyes and the glint of steel as he pounced the closest man to him sticking him in the gut and then slashing his throat spraying blood everywhere.

The initial shock of the first attack was short lived and all that had a hold of Jack grabbed weapons. He looked at them menacingly as his hands went flying to the men that were holding her down. Their incapacitation was quick and he took his time slicing and sticking them until they were a mass of bloody bodies.

He was splattered with blood and his face, feral and brutal, finished the last brother then looked up at the one man he wanted to kill slowly.

Faisal grabbed his pants, knowing that his fight was just beginning and armed himself with Jack's knives. His grin of satisfaction graced him when he looked at the unconscious woman.

His smirk of triumph seemed to enrage Riddick even more. The cold glare that gazed back at him took the steam out him momentarily. When Riddick's eyes darted to Jack, laying there limp and bleeding, her head lolled to one side, signaled Faisal's opportunity to try and kill him.

How wrong the Pilgrim was thinking that he could best Riddick because of his connection to Jack.

"Mother fuckers couldn't find your own women, you had to steal mine? Big fucken mistake. You," he said pointing his shiv towards Faisal, "made three mistakes. First," he said moving him away from the bed, "you put your hands on her."

"She is mine and I demand your blood for killing my brothers, then I demand hers for this." he spat his chest dripping blood from Jack's slash. His face was pale with pain and Riddick smelled fear on him like a bad cologne.

Riddick stood there shivs ready and smiled. He remembered what Salim had said… big but slow.

"Second, you went after her. Mother fucker you need to learn when to quit." He said taunting him with his shivs. "Three, you went and pissed me off by hurting her." He said as they ran at one another.

Riddick was roughly the same size but in much better shape, and was faster and deadlier. Although Faisal did manage to cut Riddick on his side, Riddick sliced him up the abdomen first making him stagger back.

"That's to match the one Jack gave you. Except, mine's deeper…" He taunted with an evil grin.

Faisal, bloodlust so overpowering that he didn't think he could be harmed, lunged at Riddick. It was a tactical mistake too many in his life had made when he was in the slam and he felt good that the stupid fuck had made his job not only easier but more enjoyable.

"Big mistake motherfucker. This is for Jack!" he said as he buried one of his shivs deep into his back, finally hitting that sweet spot that he had missed when he had attacked Johns all those years ago.

Faisal dropped to the floor like a bag of cement. Riddick watched him twitch unable to move because he hit the one spot that would paralyze him. He stood back moved a stray hair from Jack's bloody face and moved confidently back towards the object of his hatred and rage. "Now, have you ever wondered how long it takes you to die when you're hemorrhaging from a slice like this?" he growled in his ear, his hands sticky with deep arterial blood as he grabbed him intimately pulling down his trousers and slicing the offending appendage off, throwing it at his feet.

Faisal sat there screaming, a deep red pool flowing from his spine down his backside and a deep spurting spray coming from the front staining not only his deep brown trousers but the floor next to him.

Riddick laughed listening to his screams enjoying the pain and mayhem he caused. The darkness called to him to finish him off but he stopped. He wiped his shivs on Faisal's darkening trousers and took a step back. He stood amidst the five men and took deep cleansing breaths to try and calm himself looking around at his handiwork.

_Think of Jack… Think of her… Jack is the woman who loves you. The woman you love… _

He needed his mind to go more towards the rational, and he looked away from the bodies and saw her laying so still on the bed. Her hair was still mostly in her face and there was blood on her cheek and her nose and her mouth was spilt at the corner.

He snapped back to his human side and went to her. "Jack?" he cried not wanting to sound so desperate but not being able to help it.

_Please be alive, please, oh please don't be dead. You can't die on me. Not because of me…_

He lifted her and saw the slices down her inner thighs from the knife he used to cut away her clothes, he saw the already bruising skin on her rib cage and the cut on her face.

She was so still.

"Come on Jack. Come back to me. Don't give up. Don't you dare!" His pained face was full of guilt and his eyes darted around wondering how he could have been so stupid to risk losing her, just to get the bounty off their heads.

He picked her up and pulled her into his lap and into a crushing embrace rocking back and forth.. It was one of desperation and despair.

_She's gone. Fuck! No Jack, you can't leave me mow. No Jack. No. no. no. _

He growled in her ear words so incoherent he hadn't realized what she was speaking until he heard her. "Air, air would be good big guy." She croaked. "Was I out long?"

"Jesus Jack!" he said chuckling. He held her less forcefully and smiled at her so full of emotion that he hadn't realized that tears, for the first time in twenty years had started coming down his cheeks.. "You look like shit kid."

"Nice to see you too there big guy. What did I miss?" she said trying to look around rubbing his cheek with her bloodied hand..

"Oh the usual. Can you walk?" he smirked helping her sit up.

"Where's Sasha?" she asked wincing. "She's got some go juice in there that's a rush and should get me going."

He removed the handheld and took an ampoule out and fast injected her. "Give it a minute and I should be right as rain. Won't feel a thing." She groaned as every part of her body screamed in pain.

He held her and took some of the tattered material and wiped off her face kissing her cheek and caressing her chin which seemed the only place that she wasn't bleeding or bruised. "Ouch. I'm all right. Leave it alone for now. You can pet me later there you."

But he knew she really wasn't. She couldn't stop shaking. She looked and saw Faisal still bleeding and barely alive.

"Nice work." She quipped, "you do bar mitzvahs?"

He laughed, a hard loud chuckle that drowned out the gurgling coming from the one man he wished would just die already.

She staggered slightly as her bare feet hit the ground, still clutching the veil. She stumbled over towards him, his eyes wide with fear. She had grabbed a knife from Riddick's vest, and limped over to stand looming in his face. "Faisal," she said dropping the veil on him, "I told you mother fucker, you don't ever mess with me, or that man." She said spitting on him. "Now shut the fuck up."

She grabbed his hair pulled up his face and slashed his throat spraying blood all over the floor.

"Jack," he said moving to help her walk. "Come on, let's get the fuck out of here. You need to see Sasha, I'll bet she's bitching already."

He held her arm and watched her stumble and hobble out of the doorway and over the dead guards just in time to see something sharp hit her.

"You demons! You devils! You have killed my children! I will kill you!!!!" Ziza screamed in a mad rush against Jack. With speed he hadn't realized, she had Jack and stabbed her with a long pointed dagger.

Jack looked at him as he lunged towards her. It was one of peace, and regret.

"JACK!" he shouted trying to get to her in time. Jack pulled the knife out of her shoulder watching the blood pour down her breast and grabbed Ziza by her veil pulling her down with all the strength she had.

"You should have taught your sons to be humans instead of animals. This is for all the things you did and said to me you sick bitch." She told her sticking the knife into her black abaya and pulling it down as far as her dwindling strength would allow her.

Just then Riddick saw her look at him. "Aw shit. Riddick?" she asked falling to her knees. For him, at that moment, time slowed down.

He couldn't breathe. A howl of pure agony escaped him as he reached her. "I'm sorry Jack, Stay with me kid, look at me…"

He dragged her away from Ziza's dead body and pulled her on his lap. Blood was pouring out of her shoulder and he put his hand against it to stem the flow. "Fuck Jack. Stay with me, come on baby. Stay with me."

"Riddick. Use Sasha, please. Save time." She her eyes rolling back, feeling faint. "Stay focused. You can do it."

"Sasha, damn it. Jack's fucked and I need you to do your thing." He said in a snarl. Jack's face was pale and she was losing consciousness.

"Riddick, she's losing blood but we can stem the flow for now. We need to get her to the ship. Have you killed everyone yet?"


	43. Aftermath

**To all those shippers everywhere, I will not disappoint in this chappie. Two in one day as promised!!**

**Dedicated to Dreamingchild, Rose, Riddick's Sita, Prancergirl002 and a ( ) and all those ladies who just live for fluffie goodness!!!**

**I am not worthy you all make my day. Sighs... Break out the tissues girls, its a fluffy chappy.**

* * *

Anne stood between Kalifa and Akbar, like a pawn on a chessboard. Her blonde hair and the dark clothing she wore was a deep contrast to the light from the night sky and the dim lights that still burned in the courtyard. 

"Step away from the woman." Kalifa said, scimitar in hand, with such force that Anne almost didn't recognize him. His dark features and penetrating eyes bored into her and then passed to Akbar who stood, drunk and unruly before them.

"This whore isn't worth the trouble." He said lunging towards her when he was thrust back violently slamming against the wall.

Anne stood her hand exposed the smoke from the pulse rifle still rising. "Murderess!" she heard a shout coming from behind her and a small body dove at her.

Kalifa pulled off Farah from her and knocked her down, drawing blood from her nose and mouth. Her screams echoed so loudly that Salim winced at the sound of her voice.

"Whore! Viper, all of you are whores!" she screamed holding her face and screaming. "First the Adeni, now you!"

"Live in shame Farah, for you're nothing but garbage to me." Kalifa said taking Anne by the hand, looking into her unveiled face with such love, and then looking back with revulsion at his ex-wife. "You lay with filth, you are filth."

The he shot a look at one of the dead guards, the one she had slept with, taunted him with and he smiled enraging her further.

She got up, a short dagger in her hand andran at him, an ear splitting scream coming from her mouth when another pulse weapon went off throwing her to the ground.

"I told you kill them all." Riddick boomed carrying Jack who was bleeding and unconscious a pulse pistol in his hand. Farah dropped to the ground, smoldering against the tiles vacant eyed staring up at the black sky. "We don't have time for this shit."

Anne ran to Jack, removing her abaya and wrapping her as Riddick carried her towards the back doors. "Get to the ship. Split up if you have to I don't care, but get what you've got to and get moving, I'm not staying around." He said looking at everyone.

And in a blink, he was gone.

* * *

I shouldn't have left her. Damn it. Now look at her, she's fucken hamburger. And it's my fault. 

"Riddick?" Sasha pipes in and I swear it's Jack whispering in my fucken ear.

"Yeah Doc?" I reply, yeah I'm talkin to a god damn machine.

"Jack is fading, move your ass." She orders, and I'm running down the darkened street.

She won't die. That shit is NOT happening.

"Riddick, I've got my mainframe prepping for a hot transfer, I'm going to need you to be strong."

"I'm strong Doc, been through worse." I tell her, but not like this.

I can't lose her now. Not when we're clear. "Are they all dead?" she asks and my mind drifts a bit to hear Jack. _My Jack, my sweet Jack._

"Yeah. Ghosted them all, just like I said." I tell her and look up and see my ship in view. "We're coming in, two minutes Doc, be ready."

"I am and don't worry, I'll take good care of them." She tells me and I'm suddenly confused but I can't give a shit about that now because I'm running up the gang plank with her in my arms.

* * *

Anne, Kalifa and Salim ran behind Riddick but had a harder time keeping up the pace. When they reached the ship, they saw him and Jack disappear up the gang plank and Salim hit the emergency hatch closing the ship up for immediate launch. 

From the long hallway that ran the entire span of the ship, Annebooked towards the noise, towhat she assumed was the medical suite.

"Doc, scan her and hurry up." He shouted as she ran in, dressed in her pilgrim's skirt and blouse. His pained eyes darted between the blue light and her, both impatient and worried.

"Scan commencing Riddick." Jack's sultry voice announced as he stood panting.

Jack laid on the table, tattered and bleeding. Riddick's hand, the one stopping the puncture from bleeding freely, moved away from her for just long enough for the blue diagnostic light to pass.

He replaced his hand feeling the blood ooze between his fingers and bit his lip.

_Fuck Jack,. You can't quit on me now. Not when we're safe…_

"Riddick. I can help. You need to prep for launch. Get us airborne so we can get away."

"I'm NOT leaving her." he bellowed, his silver eyes squinting in the harsh light. He dared her to fuck with him. _I've killed people for less than that..._

"You're not doing her any good by getting caught. There will be tribunal members swarming that place before long. Hurry." She implored as Salim and Kalifa found their way towards them.

He debated moving. She was right and he hated that fact. Then looked at the vid screen and saw her vitals, weak but stable. "Once we're clear, I'm coming back." He growled, not caring how she took it.

"Fine, by then I should know more. Please, hurry." She said moving to where he stood. "I promise you, I will take good care of her."

Kalifa stood in the doorway, staring at Jack who lay bloody and still on the table. His heart broke remembering how he found his sister Yasmine, much in the same condition, but dead, not alive like Jack. He prayed for strength and hope, but faltered when Anne began to move what was left of the garments.

"You, come with me. Secure every hatch you find. Salim, make sure we're not still attached to the landing bay. We're gonna need to get the hell out of here without a sound." He barked walking passed them and putting on his goggles. "The shit's gonna hit the fan and I want to get the fuck out of here as soon as possible."

Anne walked to the console and plugged mini Sasha in to big Sasha's mainframe. "Sasha this is the update you need. Give me the run down, worst off first."

"Anne, she had major blood loss from puncture wound above right clavicle. Her blood pressure is weak and her pulse erratic. We need to replace that blood loss now. No puncture of lung tissue. Jack had me synthesize several units of whole blood. Please infuse immediately."

Anne ran an IV line directly into her forearm and ran it fast and heavy. "Okay, next."

"Put a sterile pressure dressing on that wound until we access the other injuries." She crooned, as Anne went back to the cabinets and got what she needed.

"Next, remove all the bloodied clothes so I can do a detailed scan of her lacerations. Then run a bag of ringers so I can have you push meds in to alleviate pain and restore some of the electrolytes she lost being dehydrated and drugged."

When that was done Anne paled. She had been cut and pummeled so hard that her body looked like a rag doll left out in the elements and savaged by dogs.

"Scan complete." Sasha stated as Anne looked up at the vid screen. "First degree lacerations to left and right thighs, five stitches each, laceration to left lower lip, two stitches, administer, antibiotics to prevent infection. (On view screen) Ribs 7, 8, and 9 cracked and rib 10 is broken on the left side. Once she's cleaned up we'll need to tape them up. Vaginal tearing due to forced manipulation. They attempted to rape her didn't they Anne?"

"Yes, Ziza examined her with her fist and the others, manhandled her but I am not sure if they succeeded." She answered suddenly ashamed.

"Anne, please send Riddick in when he's airborne. There's something he needs to know about Jack."

"What's that Doc?" he said in a loud forceful voice. _Oh Jesus. JACK!_

His breathe caught in his throat when he looked down at her bloodied battered body. Hehad beencalm and calculating up until that point, and broke down when he saw what they had done to his beloved Jack. His hand came up to his mouth and he bit down hard on ittrying to stave off the pain in his throat at the sight of her.

"Riddick, Jack will be fine." Sasha commanded. "Remember that most of it can be stitched and the blood removed. She'll look better in a few hours. This is mostly bluster. Once she's clean you'll see."

"That's good to know. How bad is it?" But his face told Anne he didn't believe her.

"Riddick, she's got a stab wound to her shoulder, lacerations to her legs, broken ribs, a cut on her face, vaginal tearing from the abuse and torture and residual amounts of the paralytic in her system but that's not what I'm worried about."

"What _are_ you worried about?" he asked as Anne began the delicate task of cleaning and stitching her wounds.

"Riddick, there's no way to say this delicately.Jack's pregnant." She said and the room was deathly silent. "Six weeks by the look of it."

Pregnant. In his whole life he had not expected that to happen. "You sure?"

"Yes. DNA samples from when you were injured compared to that of the fetus date conception some time after your recovery after New London. I told you to be nice to my Jack."

He shook his head and laughed. "I _was_ nice to your Jack." _That's how she ended upthat way in the first place. "_What's the condition of the baby?"

"Stable for now, but trauma this severe can result in a miscarriage. Jack's very weak."

"You mean she could lose the baby." he said flat and emotionless. "Did she know?"

"It's a possibility. She may has suspected but I doubt she actually knew. She'd never put herself in that much danger if she did. But Riddick, the human body can withstand a great deal. She's strong, just not now."

He just stared completely speechless. He knew that she'd not had her monthly since they had been reunited but he remembered her saying she was never really regular. He stared at the vitals, beeping in front of him, a tiny blip, blip, blip right beside Jack's. His baby, the baby he and Jack made.

It was more than he could fathom.

Anne had finished with Jack's legs and bandaged her up, placing a sheet to cover her then a blanket to prevent shock. Silently, she continued with Riddick helping her lift Jack as they wrapped her ribs and put an oxygen tube around her face. "Talk to her, she'll hear you." she told him trying to make him feel better. "Lights, twenty percent. You can remove your goggles now."

* * *

_Jack. Baby, I need you to hear me. I want you to fight. We're free now. There's no more mercs, no more payday on our heads, we're on our way to someplace warm, and I need you._

_Don't leave me. I just started to feel like a fucken human and not a convict, please hang on. Stay with me._

_I love you. Please don't go._

* * *

Riddick sat by her for over four hours, listening to the steady beeps and whirls of the machines that gave her oxygen, blood and nutrients. He held her hand stroking it and watching her in the near darkness of the room. 

Over and over he said that mantra, the one he'd heard in his head when he was on his back, the one he swore she told him, long before they got together.

"Riddick?" A voice asked from the doorway.

"Yeah?" he asked his voice hoarse and tired.

"You really need to get that looked at. You're still bleeding." Anne said walking towards him.

He looked down and saw his flank, the one that had been cut by Faisal during his fight over Jack. He'd been numb to the pain only focusing on Jack and sat up suddenly realizing that he'd been sitting with a wet shirt for hours.

"Sure. Do we need to turn her on?" he said as he watched the simultaneous screens showing Jack, and his baby getting more stable and stronger.

"No, let's clean you up. You're gonna need stitches. You want a local?" she asked putting gloves on and taking out a suture kit.

"No. Pain I can deal with. Just do it. I need to get back to Jack." He told her his voice tired and weary.

He removed his shirt and allowed another woman to touch him. The antiseptic wash was cold and he shuddered when it hit his skin. "Sorry. Just a little jumpy."

They both laughed, the first time since they got airborne and out into the blackness of space.

"No problem. She was very brave, even when they tortured her. She never gave up hope, not once. She had faith in you. She believes in you." she said in a melodic calm voice.

"Yeah. I know." He said as he sat on the stool and raised his arm above his head to allow her to stitch. "She always has. Can't figure out why, but it's nice to know someone actually gives a shit."

She pierced his flesh and repaired the laceration with twenty small stitches. When she was done, she gave him a bandage and he thanked her walking back over to the stool beside Jack and continuing his silent vigil, just as she had so many weeks ago.

Silently praying to Imam's god that he wouldn't have to live his life free without her.


	44. Jack wakes up!

Riddick had put the auto pilot on and let the others fend for themselves. He sat in the darkness, only moving to take a piss and grab a shirt. He watched her, and every once in a while Sasha would tell him things, things that he never knew about her.

Like the fact that she loved chocolate. Or the fact that she hated the color blue.

"That's cause it reminded her of the planet Sasha." He told her just wanting to hear the voice he'd come to love.

"You need to eat. When she wakes up she doesn't need to see you laying next to her dropping from exhaustion." She chided.

"I'll be fine Jack." He gruffed absentmindedly. Sasha made no mention of the slip and knew that his breaking point was coming.

He dozed soon after that, laying his face against her good side listening to her breathe in and out, hearing the strong heart beat that kept him sane.

Many times in the near twenty hours she lay on the table Anne, Salim and Kalifa would come by to check on them, admiring his loyalty and praying that Allah would grant him his wish to see her awake again.

"Riddick?" a small voice croaked and he snapped into wakefulness.

He rubbed his face wondering if he'd been hearing things. Then he heard it again. "Jack?" he said his voice breaking.

"Hey." She said trying to muster a smile for him. Her face was pale, the bruises against her cheek a deep purple blue, and the finger prints along her neck and shoulders a deep blue black. Her eyes were dilated and watery but seeing them open was the best thing he had ever seen.

"Hey princess, you've been down a long time." He said his face wet with relief.

"Your face sprung a leak." She croaked, her throat dry and scratchy.

"Imagine that." He replied smiling so widely he imagined he looked like an ass.

"You need to shave." She informed him touching his cheek.

"Yeah, that and a massage would help." He smirked. "I was so worried you'd never wake up."

"Sh. I wouldn't leave you. You didn't leave me. You came back and saved me, remember?" she said softly. "How bad is it?"

"Not anything we can't handle. Lost a lot of blood, broke a few ribs, but otherwise, you'll be fine. We're free Jack."

"Finally?" she asked looking into the silver pools that she loved so much.

"Finally." He told her. "You're gonna be fine."

"Sure I am, just as soon as you tell me how long I'm gonna be stuck on this hard ass table." She smirked wincing at the cut on her mouth.

He put on his goggles and said, "Doc, how long is this pain in the ass gonna be stuck here?"

He watched the bright blue light descend over her and waited for the results. He removed his goggles again and smiled.

"Twenty four hours ago Jack you were bleeding to death. Give us a break, you've had us worried sick." Sasha demanded.

"I can have Riddick and Anne move you in a few more hours. We just had to make sure you both were stable. You got pounded pretty hard." She told Jack who gave Riddick a look that made him smile.

"No." she told him looking at him with that face of pure disbelief.

"Yeah Jack." He said knowing she understood completely what Sasha meant.

"No way." She told him. "That's impossible. There's no way I can be…"

"It fits, Jack. The tiredness, the crabbiness, you both were very active, and your monthly was no where to be seen. You _do _know how babies are made don't you?"

"I shouldn't have given her AI Riddick, now she's mocking me. Of course I knew you piece of junk." Then her face lost what color it had when she looked at Riddick's face, unreadable. "I'm sorry."

Suddenly he felt ashamed. He didn't want to upset her. "For what Jack?"

"For…" she tried to say but looked away. "Fucking up." _Getting pregnant..._

His voice got tender, purred in her ear as he wiped a tear off her face. "You didn't fuck up anything Jack. Not that fucking didn't have anything to do what what's going on now, cause it did." He chuckled and she laughed and winced in pain. "Oh shit, I'm sorry kid. Didn't mean to get you hurting again."

"So you're not sorry?" she asked shy all of a sudden.

"Hell no. Remember, what I told you when I was on my back? I meant every word." He told her kissing her forehead. "I love you. I'm gonna love this baby too." He patted her abdomen and smiled.

* * *

Riddick and Kalifa moved Jack to the bedroom they share the next day. She slept fitfully and Sasha and Anne, who had continued her studies until her marriage into the Mohammed family, decided that she'd be better off in some place more comfortable.

"I can walk you know. I'm not gonna break." She quipped as Riddick carried her followed by Kalifa who carried the portable IV pole.

"Bitch all you like princess, cause its you're turn to be stuck in bed now." he remarked smiling and blowing her off.

"You just wait. I'll get you for that. That's probably why I'm gonna be stuck here an extra week in the first place." She snapped while Kalifa just shook his head.

"You sound like two old married people. How depressing for you." he said sarcastically.

They both looked at him and laughed. "Shut up Kalifa or I'll tell Anne about the pictures."

"She already knows thank you and you will not black mail me further or I shall tell your jabbar wadd (most powerful lover) about the spin the bottle game."

Riddick's eyebrow went up and he began to laugh. "Spin the bottle Jack? That's gotta be as good as Truth or dare?"

Then all three of them were laughing.

* * *

Salim kept his distance until Jack's health had improved to where she was able to be escorted to the mess and placed on the couch. He was old school and didn't feel comfortable seeing her in her bed chambers.

Riddick slept with her every night and kept her calm when the nightmares would come. But never touched her no matter how much he wanted to. She would flinch and scream making it worse and it broke his heart but he bit his lip and endured it.

"My child. It is good to see you. I was always confident that you would return to us." He told her taking her hand and placing it on his cheek.

"Salim I missed you. What you did for me was beyond words." She told him knowing he gave up so much for her.

"You are what is important now, and the child within you. I always imagined my children staying close to me, but as I lost one, I gained one so my life is good, regardless." He told her as Riddick came to sit by her.

She cried at that and they sat down together and ate, sitting next to one another as a family would.


	45. Small steps

No one let Jack read the news on the universal net, or watch the news when it played on the screen because none of them wanted her to know that the Massacre in New Mecca was still big news.

It was only when she walked in on them watching it, most believing she was resting did she rail on everyone, including Richard B. Riddick.

"When was anyone gonna tell me we STILL had prices on our heads?" she asked still wincing whenever she forcefully used her voice.

"Because of this very reaction Jack." Anne started holding up a hand and watching Jack double over in pain.

"Don't. I'm not a baby." She snapped. "So what the hell has been going on for the last two weeks?"

"Well, it seems we were very good, left no traces except for you and Anne being gone. All the women save Ziza and Farah were spared and they put two and two together and came up with Salim and I being the ring leaders of a revenge killing spree for Imam." Kalifa told her while Riddick walked her to a chair and sat her on his lap rubbing her side.

"Great, did anyone figure out who killed Faisal?" she asked her hands fisted at her side.

"Technically Jack, you did, I just put him in a world of hurt." He told her soothing the pain her ribs still caused her. _She's actually letting me touch her…_

_Small steps dickey boy. Small steps._

She glared at him. But Kalifa continued. "The council is wanting our hides, and yours for instigating it in the first place by leaving the planet in the "arms of a man not your husband or brother.""

"You've got to be kidding. They nearly kill me and I'm the one with the payday?" she said incredulously.

"Sounds about right." Her mate crooned in her ear. "Something really sexy about sleeping with a wanted felon." He whispered and she poked him for that.

_Small steps…_

"So, what do we do now?" she asked rolling her eyes. He could feel the tension in her body and smell the acute fear that made her so jumpy.

"We keep doing what we're doing. Flying towards the Meterora system. Remember that planet I found?" Riddick asked her. _Come on Jack, come out, don't be afraid now. We'll be safe. I won't let you get hurt, ever again._

There was a planet he had found during the four years they were separated that had a beach, blue skies and water just like earth except it had two suns, like T2 but no monsters.

He had spent about six months exploring it, loving it's lush green plant life, the lack of people who could fuck with them, the fresh air, and the sound of the sea. It was a place he could put down and not worry about much. It's the beach he pictured his kids playing on, and the one he'd hoped to come back to.

"Yeah, Talos 4?" she asked looking at him smile that wistful smile that he got when he remembered something. He stroked her back and knew that it calmed her but she flinched when his rough fingers made their way lower.

"That's where we're going and before that, we're hitting Talos Prime to get supplies, refuel and get refitted. After that we're gone. No one cares about an old man, and his kids settling down after drifting through the universe now would they?"

"Nope, I don't suspect they would." She told him smiling sadly getting up and running out of the room.

So it was settled. Jack ran to their room and closed the door and didn't come out for the rest of the day. Since she recovered she spent most of her time there, quiet and alone.

When she wasn't freaking out because of something someone said, she was inward and shy around them. Riddick opened the door and found the room lit only by three candles.

He sighed, Jack had been so abused that it could be months before he could have her back to her old self, if ever.

He preferred low natural light, the fluorescent tubes that ran through the ship hurt his eyes, and he removed his goggles. "Gotta come out of your shell sometime Jack." He told her closing the door.

She sat on the bed, hugging her knees and sighed. "No I don't, I like it just fine right here. Nothing can go wrong here."

"Jack." He said approaching her with caution. She was like a frightened kitten jumping at everything and everyone. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

"I know…" she said in a small flat voice.

"But…" he finished.

"I can't. I can't every time I close my eyes all I see and feel is them." She cried and all he wanted to do was pull her in his arms.

"Jack. Listen to me." he said moving like a panther towards her. "Let's make a deal you and I."

"OK." She told him as he sat on the bed. _Okay Jack, small steps, that's what Sasha told me… Small steps._

"I won't do anything that you don't want me to. Any time you want to stop, I will no questions asked."

He remembered every night when she'd sleep how she'd scream and wake up covered in sweat smelling of fear screaming. He could only imagine what she'd gone through and Anne had approached him after a week with something so horrifying that he felt violent for hours after.

"_Riddick?"_ she asked stopping on the bridge on night after a nightmare woke the entire ship.

"_Yeah?"_ he said rubbing his face and sitting in the darkness. _"What do you want?"_

"_Sasha has something you may or may not want to see. The portable Sashas were linked and the one I left in the room with Jack has some disturbing video that may be helpful…" _she told him and his eyes snapped up and she could tell his heart was breaking.

He sat in the med lab, doors locked, alone watching everything that happened to Jack from the time Anne had to leave her, to their escape and her attackby Ziza and seeing her so brave, and so abused twisted his guts into a knot. From that moment, he made it his personal mission to bring her back, if it took the rest of their lives, to the woman he loved before his colossal mistake of going back to remove the bounty on their heads.

"All right. Anytime right?" she asked looking into his silvery pools and trying to smile.

"That's right Jack, anytime." He told her in a tender, calming voice. She sighed at the deep rumble in his chest and he knew that bit by bit he'd break down the walls she'd slapped up against him.

He sat next to her and inhaled next to her ear. "Beautiful." he purred and he heard her inhale nervously.

"No I'm not." She replied in a whisper.

"Oh yeah Jack, you are, so very beautiful." he said looking at her moving his cheek so close he could feel the heat off her.

But he didn't touch her. Now was not about touch, it was about trust.

"You know, Talos 4 is my favorite planet. The suns, the beach, the lush vegetation, its the perfect place to go and disappear." He said just sitting near her. "I know a spot," He said drinking up the closeness, "where the water is so warm that when I laid down on the beach I let it touch my feet and it felt like the warmest bath, like little fingers running up and down my legs."

_Image is everything, dickey boy. Take her mind off the fact you want to fuck the shit out of her._

Shut up this is Jack.

"Must be nice to feel safe enough to lay on the beach naked letting the water touch your skin." She said.

"How'd you know I was naked?" he asked inhaling her again. He couldn't get enough of her scent, frightened or otherwise.

"I know you, you wouldn't take just your boots off if it felt that good."

"You're right." He laughed softly, The fact she didn't bolt was a good sign.

"I wondered what it would be like to have you sitting there, under the stars letting the water touch your feet, and hoped when I got back to you that you'd come and find out." He admitted taking his hand and tracing the outline of her palm.

The touch, slight and sensual, along with his words caused a sigh of pleasure to escape her lips.

_Very good small step dickey boy. Watch your ass or it'll all go to shit._

Now you need to really shut the fuck up.

"When was that?" she sighed his face close and his lips whispering in her ear.

"About two years ago." he told her growling with pleasure remembering the moment he knew she was the one.

"And you didn't come for me then?" she quipped and he thought he heard her almost laugh. Almost.

"You were still jail bait Jack, and I didn't want a little sister." He crooned.

"Really now?" she countered and a little of old Jack began to emerge.

"Really. Saw a little of the animal in you and knew that all I had to do was wait." He remarked coming so close to her ear he could feel it against his lips. "Wanted to make sure you were just right."

"And am I?" she whispered leaning in slightly.

"Oh yeah. Imam kept sending me messages telling me how you were doing and I knew, I was coming back, taking you with me and having the life I'd been denied."

His warm breath against her neck, the closeness, his scent, the absolute trust he had let her know was all right to have, made her smile. A real smile that made his heart suddenly full. She needed to know that he loved her, that she was important and that nothing, absolutely nothing was more important than her.

"Even if I was skinny and gawky like I was." She asked suddenly unsure.

_No Jack, stay here with me, keep feeling good. That's my girl._

"Didn't matter one bit, but I have to say," he said feeling the need to fuck with her. "You surprised me with that fine ass."

"This old thing?" she quipped feeling his cheek against her neck as he nuzzled her. "I wasn't uh, worrying Mmm. about that."

Her reaction was very positive and he tempered himself against going to far.

"Good. Cause that ass could drive a man to distraction." He said putting his lips against her skin and testing the waters once again.

"Riddick?" she stammered.

"Yeah princess?" he asked his hand still tracing circles on her palm while he lightly kissed her neck.

"That feels very good." She told him leaning her head away so he'd have better access.

"I know, I can smell you Jack. I hope to make you feel very good." He told her leaning up and smiling.

"What if I can't?" she asked suddenly worried he'd leave her if she couldn't.

"Sh. Just close your eyes and let me feel you, smell you, and we'll see how things go. I plan on taking my time, don't worry." He said looking at her and smiling.

His lips moved against her neck again and his cheek rubbed her skin and he felt the rush of blood through her body. Flush, that was a good sign. Her hand, the one freed now because he had both on the bed, one on one side of her so he could lean, the other in his lap, moved to rest on his chest, feeling the heart beating strong and hard.

"Holding back, for me are you?" she asked as her hand pressed against his flesh. The fact she was touching him sent a pleasurable shiver from the point of her fingers to his loins stirring them into action.

"I'd do anything for you Jack, and I mean that." He said rubbing his cheek against hers and whispering in her ear.

"That's good to know." She said and the grin he'd waited for came out and old Jack returned, even for the briefest of moments.

He chuckled and her fingers felt the vibration sending a warm sensation to her body like a warm breeze. "So, princess, how you doin so far?"

"Good. Waiting for something though." She said giving him a impish smile.

"And that would be?" he quipped fucking with her just a little.

"Talk less." She replied rubbing _her_ face against his neck and licking it.

Holding back for Riddick was a difficult task. The feel of her wet tongue anywhere on his skin was electrifying. "Well, that's _good _to know." He said using the words she's said to him back at her. "I love you."

Those three words and the hand free to move touching her cheek, caused her to close her eyes and sigh. "I love you too."

Her eyes opened and she saw him looking at her and she knew he wanted to kiss her. Slowly, deliberately, he leaned towards her and gracefully touched his against hers in a chaste brush against her delicate mouth.

He purred against her lips enjoying the sensation so much. "I've waited a long time for that Jack." He told her leaning back and licking his lip.

She laughed and the sound made his heart leap. "Me too. Been a while huh?"

"You have _no _idea." He quipped wanting to try that again.

She answered his silent request by leaning in and kissing him again. "I missed how you tasted Riddick." She said breathlessly after their lips turned into a arousing tangling of their tongues.

Neither of them could suppress a whimper when the parted and it was Riddick that spoke first, his head still primal when he did.

"Mmm." He said kissing her throat, then her cheek and returning to her mouth, stopping her from talking. "You talk to much princess."

She laughed again. Twice, in the span of an hour she had gifted him with her laughter.

"It's good to hear you laugh again Jack. Real good." He told her as he sat back.

"It feels good. Thank you." she said and he saw that familiar twinkle in her eye.

He got up and walked to the cabinet, opening it to retrieve something from the drawers. "Are we done?" she asked and he was hopeful she wanted more.

"For now. Later, a little more if you like. I can wait." He hoped he could wait…

"By the way you're walking, you may need a little help." She said and he smiled.

He smirked looking through his shirts knowing that he loved it when she felt comfortable enough to fuck with him.

"Been worse you know, don't worry about me." he told her getting a box. "Nothing a long cold shower couldn't cure. Been taking a lot of those lately."

She smiled again and he could get used to seeing her like that. Her face, still so beautiful was free of bruises and the cut on her lip was gone too. She'd taken to wearing her hair back and he liked it. He could see her eyes, still sad brighten when she felt the power over him that he let her have, or did he let her have it? He didn't care, he wanted her back, back fully and he'd do anything to get her there.

"I think you need this back." He said taking it down and setting it in her hand.

It was his medallion, in a bit of fabric. He'd taken it off when he saved her and kept it because it was his mark that she was his.

"I don't." she told him staring at it as he took it out and placed it around her neck.

"You do, to remind you, that you're one of the few things that this fucked up universe has given back to me." he said kissing her cheek.

She began to cry, she couldn't help it. He went to leave, backing off rather than pushing her too far and was surprised when she ran to him throwing her arms around his neck and laughing.

His arms wrapped around her and savored the moment of intimacy. She began to laugh. "You're going soft on me Richard B. Riddick, you know that?"

* * *

"Not for a while Jack, not for a long while." I tell her, there's no way I'd go soft now if my life depended on it. I can still feel those breasts pressed against me and it's fantastic.

"Thanks, for being patient." She tells me, and I feel good hearing the voice I love being cheerful.

"Wanna go for a walk or something?" I ask, I'd do anything to keep her from shutting up again.

"No, I'm getting tired. You're wearing me out." She says and I just _have_ to fuck with her a little.

"When I wear you out princess, you'll know it." I say and it's a promise not just a snappy comeback.

"Promises, promises." She quips back and I know the road may be hard but we'll get there, one step at a time.


	46. Cause I want some more

**To all my faithful, kisses and hugs! This is dedicated to Riddick's Sita and Mija**

**Disclaimer: Jack and Riddick belong to USA films but I love them so I covet them, and with Vin playing the man... who couldn't?**

**RATED: R for mature themes and situations For all you shippers, REJOICE! **

* * *

Riddick and Kalifa were fixing one of the refrigeration conduits when Jack brought Riddick his morning coffee. He was surprised because she had all but forgotten their morning and evening ritual, and he missed it.

"Good morning Riddick." She said wearing her favorite jeans and black shirt. He could see her mechanics boots from underneath the console.

He rolled out and sat up wiping his face. His contact lenses let him see a glow in her cheeks and he figured the three weeks of small steps had gave her enough confidence to resume old habits.

"Good morning Jack." He said standing up. He left it up to her and she walked over and kissed him chastely on the lips. Her smile, something he thought he'd never see again was gracing him with it's presence on a regular basis and he even started with the quippy comments just to get her going.

No more china doll for Jack. And Riddick couldn't be more pleased.

He stared at her and raised his eyebrow when he noticed her hand was on his waist band and an impish grin was on her face.

"Ahem." Kalifa coughed sitting up. "You need a moment alone you two?"

They both looked at each other and laughed. Her laughter only heard by Riddick was so infectious that Kalifa started laughing, inwardly rejoicing to see her so improved.

Riddick put his arm around her and drank the hot liquid. "Saw Sasha this morning." She told him putting her hand in his back pocket.

_She's got her hand on my ass, Holy shit…_

His face turned to her and he looked serious. "So what has our Doc have to say now?"

_Stay calm dickey boy it could be another false alarm…_his beast snarled getting sick of all the false starts.

"Baby is doing great, we're now at just passed three months. She told me that I've healed up nicely and Salim is letting me do kata again. No sparring, not until I've given birth. Also, she tells me you've been having private chats. Checking up on me are you?"

"When you gave her AI you gave her a very smart brain Jack, I do what I can and when I don't know, I ask." he said patting that perfect cheek.

A month before he wouldn't have dared but now he felt she was secure enough to trust him.

She began to move her hand to touch the belt and shimmied her fingers under his shirt and played with his back. He sipped the hot fluid and kept tabs on her wandering fingers, trying not to groan but finding it difficult.

"Said you've been VERY patient while you've been helping me back. How noble. Salim says you've been working out extra hard. What a shame to be having to use a punching bag as an outlet for all that pent up frustration."

"Jack." He warned. _You didn't just say that shit to me._

"Can't hold on any longer? The punching bag is over there big boy. Or maybe you just need a…" he didn't let her finish the sentence. He put the mug down and took off after her.

"JACK! I'm gonna get you!" he told her running passed the gym and the mess passed Salim and Anne who just shook their heads.

"It's about time." Anne said to Sasha who just sat silently observing everything taking place.

Jack laughing and behaving more like herself was something everyone had looked forward to for weeks and Riddick was no exception.

"You couldn't catch me if you tried old man." She quipped shouting, "Lights off."

The ship went dark and he growled. She had the advantage because he couldn't see a thing with the contact lenses in.

"Clever Jack but I won't be long. I can smell you, and baby you smell delicious." He growled loud enough not caring who heard him.

_Time to play Jack._

He removed his lenses, put them in the case and took of in a run after her.

When he found her she was in his closet, standing behind his shirts and leather coat. He closed and locked the door smiling a shit eating grin that hadn't graced his face in quite a while.

"Gotcha Jack." He said heaving and panting. "You're a bad girl. You knew I had my lenses in and took that to mean you could get a few extra seconds to hide but I'll always find you."

She giggled and he couldn't help but smile. "Aw, couldn't seem to help myself."

He grabbed her waist and see how far she'd let him go. The farthest they had gone was a few fairly intimate kisses and caresses but nothing that meant he could resume something more physical.

"Tease." He smirked looking down at her.

"Prude." She quipped back smiling, and very aroused.

"Let me go there you." she ordered and his hand swatted her perfect behind. OW!" she said in mock pain. But he could tell she liked it.

_Oh yeah you liked it you little tease._

"No." he purred as he pushed her against the wall and played with her hair, releasing it from the clip she wore.

"Playtime is over." She chided trying to move off the wall and succeeding in teasing him worse.

"Playtime is about to begin there princess. You've got me now, what are you gonna do with me?"

"Oh the usual." She laughed running her hands underneath his shirt eliciting a groan from his chest. "Like that did you? Man I gotta tell you I should get hurt more often, you're body is amazing."

She ran her fingers up and down his rib cage feeling the taut muscles and down his flanks cupping his backside. "Damn fine ass."

He was speechless, the fact she was feeling him up notwithstanding. She was horny, he could smell it. He could feel it as her breasts ran against his chest muscles. Full breasts, bigger than he remembered. "Gotta ask princess, what's gotten into you?"

"You complaining?" she warned.

"No ma'am." he said hungry and aroused. "Just wondering."

"If you must know," she said pushing him towards the bed, "I've been feeling sort of edgy the last few days and no matter what I seemed to do to alleviate it, nothing worked, then I saw Sasha and she told me a few things."

He was dying to know…burning to know. "What things princess?"

His hands went to her waistband and she turned him pushing him on the bed where she climbed up on him.

He growled loudly as she straddled him and she smiled grinding a bit before she spoke making it worse.

"Things like, you've been patient, kind, loving and very, very frustrated. That the feelings I was feeling were frustration of my own since you and I had such an _active _sex life before we went back to New Mecca and that my body was going through changes that required me to…"

She moved slightly causing him to groan again. "Stop feeling sorry for myself and have a good… long… intense… extremely gratifying few hours with the man who loves me."

"She said that?" he asked holding her hips because he was about ready to pounce her.

_Fuck Jack, please tell me you want me…_

"Not really her words were a bit more to the point. And I quote, "Go in there and fuck his brains out before he destroys something, and by the way, blaming yourself its getting really old."

He laughed hard and for nearly two minutes when she put her hands on her hips as if to admonish him.

"It isn't nice to laugh at your mate when she's being so," she said leaning down rubbing her breasts against his chest, "vulnerable."

She sat up looking at him grinning mischievously.

"Thank god for hormones." He sighed as she leaned down and kissed him soundly. He couldn't help the sounds that came from deep inside his chest when he felt her tongue touch his stirring him into a hot, deeply aroused state.

His hands left her waist and grabbed hold of those perfect buttocks and squeezed pushing her harder down on his throbbing arousal.

"Jack, you're killing me." he croaked as she pushed up.

"I want you so much, I don't know if I have told enough that I am so grateful to have you. And the fact that you're so incredibly hot has absolutely nothing to do with it."

_Yeah right Jack. Those nipples are so hard I could cut glass with them. Liar…_

"Having and wanting are good but you know me. Gotta fuck with you when I can and I've been missing that." He said as she took off his shirt.

"Me taking off your shirt or the _fucking_?" she quipped.

He groaned hearing her say it like that.

"I can honestly say both but more the fucking than anything else right now. God Jack you're killing me."

"Hormones ain't the only thing that's started making an appearance lover." She said taking off her sweater.

"Jesus, Jack!" he said staring at her breasts and smiling.

"Yup, can't beat that with a stick." She said laughing. "They grew overnight, you like?"

"Oh yeah." He growled looking at her like a hungry animal. He pulled her towards him and rolled her on her back eager to dive in and sample her flesh.

Her loud moan against him was satisfaction enough. "It feels." She panted as he took a hardened nipple into his mouth, "so good, don't stop please, more I can't stand it."

"Sensitive are we?" he said diving into the other one and making her squirm.

"You have _no _idea." She admitted writhing against him.

"I was so afraid," he said kissing her belly and moving down as he undid her belt, "that I'd never get to touch you again after what they had done to you."

"Hot stud like you in my bed, it was just a matter of time before I had to taste you again." she said gasping when he kissed the spot where his baby rested and grew stronger every day.

"Hey kid, it's your dad, go to sleep now, I'm gonna have a little fun with your mom." He whispered kissing her lower until she screamed with pleasure.

She almost cried when he said that and got him smirking at her. "What, I'm not allowed to talk to my baby?"

"No, you're just too much." She admitted daring him to talk some more. He surprised her by grabbing her foot,

She laughed when he pulled off her boots like a kid with a new toy. "I've missed this." She said smiling as he pulled off her jeans and left her clad in only a pair of panties. "You are entirely over dressed."

"I'll take care of that in a minute. You said something earlier about the ache, I seem to remember being able to take care of that." He said pulling her to the edge of the bed and kneeling against it.

He ran his fingers down from her knees to the juncture of her thighs. The place he most wanted to explore and purred when his touch gave her such pleasure.

His beast inside growled in anticipation of a good pouncing and said, _Essence de Jack, my favorite fragrance. Good dickey boy, six weeks is long enough to wait for this fine piece of ass._

That's my Jack shut the fuck up.

But he had to agree, now that the wait was over he couldn't hold on very long.

"Riddick?" she asked leaning up on her elbows giving him a spectacular view.

"Yeah Jack?" he said blowing kisses along her thigh.

"Make the ache go away, and take the bad memories with it will ya?" she asked watching him climb higher until his face was right where he most liked to be.

With a request like that, he dove right in and made it happen. He could smell her arousal and the taste of her was better than he imagined. It had been quite a long while since they'd been like this and he made the most of it.

He knew that pregnant women felt and smelled different and that some men, assholes most likely were put off by their new found bodies, but not Riddick. He was turned on, very turned on by her new curves, her new scent, the way she felt under his body, and the way she responded to his tongue between her thighs.

He felt her start to reach that summit, the one that would make her scream his name and he rejoice. His Jack was back and he couldn't feel better. Well, he would but that was next, first he wanted to make her come, hard and fast.

"Riddick, don't stop baby, right there!" she shouted moments before her walls crumbled around him like an avalanche.

He pulled her up so she was sitting and smiled licking his lips and taking her into himself. "Feel better?"

"Uhuh." She said kissing him. Her hands were around his head, and he felt suddenly dizzy by her aroused state. "Always wanted to know that I tasted like."

With that admission, Riddick was rendered speechless. He stood and she tugged at his belt buckle looking straight up at him with wanton eyes.

It didn't take long to realize what she intended to do and he closed his eyes and tried to take a deep breath. "Just returning the favor baby. You like?"

Speech, let alone coherent thought was hard, along with the rest of him. "Jack, God baby don't stop no matter what. I mean stop, please." He told her realizing that if he didn't get her prone that he'd last not more than two minutes inside her.

"Please?" she said taking a long slow lick.

"I'm gonna blow if you keep that up and I want to do that somewhere else. You can play later, I promise." He growled as he tried to pull back.

"Promise?" she quipped cupping him intimately and smiling. His eyes rolled back into his head and he took her hips and moved her back onto his deep soft mattress.

At that point he could only nod his head. "Jack, I'm serious, don't make this harder for me…" he quipped pushing her thighs apart.

"You know, Sasha says we can have sex up until the last month, then play other ways after that." She said as he dove into her. "God, I missed that!"

He growled and let his animal side take over, setting a blistering pace. She smiled, running her hands along his chest, then down his lower abdomen to his sex where she pushed him deeper. "Go baby, let it go, I got ya." She told him using his own words at him.

He took her at her word and rode her hard just like he wanted to. The fire in her belly grew hot again and it wasn't long before she was going to orgasm against his powerful thrusts. He looked down at her, slick with sweat and watched her cry out his name seconds before he exploded into her shouting her name like a prayer.

"Riddick?" she said as he laid down beside her.

"Yes?" he said sleepily.

"Wore you out huh?" She said smug.

"Nope, just making sure I didn't just die and go to heaven. How's the little guy?"

"Fine as far as I know why?" she asked moving onto her stomach.

"Cause I want some more." He growled pulling her against him and nipping her ear.


	47. Wrench in the machine

Dedicated to Angeltear15 thanks for the idea...

* * *

Sitting in a lavish adobe building, on leather, four men discussed the Massacre at New Mecca.

"So how much is the payday for the girl?" a gruff voice asked as he looked at the surveillance tape.

"One quarter million." An Arabic translator said nervously as two large old men sat before him. "Mr. Toombs, we understand you have your ways of finding people."

Toombs sat back in his chair not caring a bit that the bottom of his boots faced his prospective employers. He could give a shit about the insult it presented. They had a problem and he had the solution.

"My master asks," he said hesitating, "if you know this man."

Toombs shook his head and laughed, a sick sardonic cackle that disturbed the translator but did not phase the two old men in robes sitting before him.

"Riddick. Richard B. Riddick, convict and murderer. Thought he got ghosted on New Tangier on his way back to Butcher Bay. How much is he worth?" he asked taking a drag on a cigarette.

The translator conferred with the two men and stood back up stammering. "Two million."

"Mother fucker made a mess of your little family didn't he?" Toombs asked, "he's a high priced payday sure, you want him to back to slam or do you have something special in mind?"

A pause then the translator, dressed in deep black and red robes answered visibly sweating. "My master states that what they do with the two of them is not your concern."

Then the older gentleman and more important of the two spoke in perfect English. "We will kill this Riddick and keep the woman for our pleasure. But that is not your concern. The two others and the wife of my son, kill as is your pleasure, they do not concern me. These two must be made an example."

"That'll cost you extra." He contended taking the tape and putting it in his pocket.

"Done."

* * *

just a side note: You didn't think I'd make it easy for Jack and Riddick now did you? Plot bunnies are killing me...

I'm evil.... yes ladies, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

as my buddy Riddick said, (honeymoon phase mind you) "Had to end sometime."


	48. Plans

"Jack, can I ask you a question?" Anne asked looking at Jack sitting in the mess. Jack was wearing a pair of loose fitting cargo pants, not so loose now that she was nearly four months pregnant. The deep olive color seemed to enhance the glow of her skin and the loose yellow button up shirt she wore hid her condition enough to where a stranger wouldn't give her a second glance.

"Sure." She answered braiding her chestnut hair back away from her face. Her lush green eyes seemed to twinkle when she talked now and Anne was grateful that Riddick was able to bring the old Jack back to them.

"How long before you knew that you loved Riddick?" she asked sitting next to her drinking a glass of cold water.

"I," she chuckled looking at her. "It's not your usual kind of "love" story, I was fourteen and he was a lot older. He saved my life so many times, and it started out as hero worship, but when I grew up, it was definitely something else. I waited for four years and it was really frustrating at times."

Anne sighed, a frustrated sigh of someone who was needed relief. "Frustration is definitely something I am not handling well."

"Daddy always looking over your shoulder?" she quipped pointing towards the gym where Salim, Riddick and Kalifa were sparring.

"You have **no** idea. We can't even touch one another. AT ALL. It's been that way since we left New Mecca."

_Nearly two months… Jesus talk about frustration…_

"Got an idea, but it's gonna take a little work. You up for it?" she asked looking at her friend who no longer donned a veil or even a head scarf and who wore what clothes she couldn't fit into any longer.

"If it means me actually getting to kiss him, you bet." She said scoffing Jack.

"Meet me later on the bridge, I'll have a plan." She said confidently and Anne watched as the wheels began to turn.

* * *

"Man I thought Riddick was dead?" Roper, a twenty something pilot with bad skin, asked Toombs as they hit the bridge of his new ship. It was an incentive purchase to get Riddick and Jack and he knew that he'd need to make sure they came back in one piece. Along the wall towards the pilot's chair was a room lined with cryo tubes and retraints.

"Me too, but pictures don't lie Danny-boy. This is one dangerous mother fucker." Toombs said popping in the vid disc and watching the show.

Roper flinched as he watched with deadly presicion how Riddick worked in near darkness in tandem with the two others on their list. "Why is this _Jack _so important?"

"See Danny boy, these Pilgrims, these holy rollers like things a certain way." He said putting his feet up and watching with sadistic glee how Riddick worked. "Man, talk about beautiful. Gotta admit the bastard's got style. You see, Jack, beautiful piece that she is, don't let those bruises stop ya, I saw them on the hanger deck when she was a kid and I knew that she'd stop traffic with those legs. Damn."

"Uh Toombs, you need a minute?" Roper laughed looking at her picture on the view screen before the men came in to have fun with her.

"Shut it, I'm making my point asshole. Riddick, the holy man, he's dead now, and this little fish survived the crash of the _Hunter Gratzner_."

"They were on that fucken ship? Holy Shit!" Roper asked looking at the scene where Faisal and his brothers walked in. He was amazed that every room had a live feed and watched with morbid fascination the unfolding of events.

"Yeah, according to reports, Riddick was supposed to have died, but he really didn't. He's like a fucken cockroach... He saved the girl. Now, my question at the time was why? That got answered when he reached New Mecca and I saw him leave her. You could cut the tension with a knife Danny boy. He loves her, so much it hurt. He walked away, and I could see it in his face, ah, the torment."

"Why didn't you grab him then?" Roper asked adjusting his seat in the chair because he had been watching them hurt her so brutally.

"Sentimental I guess. No one had a payday on his head, everyone thought he was dead, didn't interest me cause I didn't get anything out of it." he said plainly cocking his head to one side as he listened to the taunting between Riddick and Faisal. "See, listen. This is a good part, part of the charm he oozes."

And both men heard Riddick tell Faisal why he was gonna die.

_"Get the fuck away from her." _They heard him growl, and watched as he descended upon them. In a cold animalistic fury._ "Mother fuckers couldn't find your own women, you had to steal mine? Big fucken mistake. You," _he said pointing his shiv towards Faisal,_ "made three mistakes. First,"_ he said moving him away from the bed_, "you put your hands on her."_

"See what I mean here? Look at him. He's putting himself at risk telling that fat fuck that. But he knows his capabilities. Look at how he taunts the prick." Toombs said pointing at the screen. "I love this part."

"_She is mine and I demand your blood for killing my brothers, then I demand hers for this."_ he spat his chest dripping blood from Jack's slash. Riddick stood there shivs ready and smiled.

"Mother fucker doesn't even know he's already dead. Wait, I love this part too. Like I said, _Style._" He continued playing with the other discs in his hand.

"_Second, you went after her. Mother fucker you need to learn when to quit."_ He said taunting him with his shivs. _"Three, you went and pissed me off by hurting her."_

"And we're gonna go after _that?_ You sure you wanna die?" Roper asked sweating a little.

"Two Million for him and a quarter million for her AND this new ship, you got to be shitting me." Toombs said scoffing Roper's question. "We just need to get a crew together I can trust. Then, we'll just turn on the homing beacon they hid on the landing gear and it's just a matter of time."

* * *

"Good evening Jack." Riddick said coming quietly up behind her. His arms wrapped around her and she never felt more loved.

Turning around she put her arms around his neck and leaned back giving him his kiss, deep and penetrative. "Good evening there you."

He chuckled deep in his chest and she laughed as well. "Never get tired of that you know. Good rules are so important."

"Are you captain of your ship?" she asked as his hand drifted to the small distention under her shirt.

"Yeah." He said smiling as he rubbed her. She purred and let him keep his hand pressed flat against the child that grew so strong inside her.

"Got a little problem that I need you to help me with." She asked as they walked to the bridge.

Sitting in the pilot's chair he pulled her onto his lap and continued to pet her, something she'd never get enough of. His mouth rested against her neck and he pecked lightly at her skin, purring because she made him feel so incredible. He couldn't believe how lucky he was, here she wasin his arms, his baby growing inside her andshe loved him. Sometimes it was too much to take."So little lady, tell me what I can do to help you with this problem." He told her with a knowing look.

"I've got a friend of mine, a good friend who's REALLY frustrated, needing to get some very, very bad." She said and his hands drifted upward from the sleeping bundle in her stomach to her lush full breasts. "She'd like you to make that problem go away."

"I bet." He crooned in her ear, nipping it.

He was driving her to distraction, not good for the moment since she was talking about Kalifa and Anne not about her, but it could definitely be her at that point.

His fingers grazed her sensitive nipples and it took every ounce of concentration to be able to focus. "Mm baby, listen to me. Anne and Kalifa are in love, and have been since before he got married the first time. Mm Riddick, stop for a minute."

"Don't want to, I like making you squirm, this close I can smell you and I know you like it. Try and deny it Jack." He said low and gruff in her ear.

Her moan as his fingers tortured hersensitive skinwas answer enough. He smiled and put his hand back down on her stomach causing her to groan out loud. "You were saying." He asked her as innocent as a lamb.

"Marry them. Salim is not even letting them touch each other AT ALL." she said feeling suddenly very weird. That strange feeling had been coming and going and she had asked Sasha about it who only laughed. "He won't even let them alone in the same room.

"I can do that?" he asked looking up at her.

"You're the captain, of course you can, then it's horizontal mambo for our best friends."

"_Your_ best friends, you're mine and all I need." He told her kissing her chin and smiling.

"So you'll do it?" she asked feeling it again, this time much stronger. It was a twinge and a thump and she instantly knew what it meant.

"Sure. What's wrong, your face is all scrunched up again." he said suddenly concerned. "You in pain?"

"Give me your hand." She demanded. She took it, placed it underneath the loose fitting shirt and placed it on her stomach. "Talk to me. About anything. Just talk."

"About what?" he asked confused.

"Anything." She said in an excited hurried voice.

"Well, today we nearly killed each other in the gym and Salim was kind of impressed at the fact I'm so god damn fast." He said as his eyes went wide like fried eggs. "Holy shit Jack!"

The baby kicked him, strong and hard. "Say hello to Daddy kid, that sultry sexy growl is all his."

His face glowed with pride. "Hey kid, you in there?" he said standing Jack up in his lap and leaning his face on her shirt. His low vibrating tones caused his baby to kick again and Jack laughed hard and loud and he joined her so fucken happy he couldn't stand it.

"Damn Jack, and I thought it couldn't get any better." He said pulling her into his arms. "You can have anything you want."

"I knew that." She quipped smiling.

"I'll talk to Kalifa." He told her snuggling against her neck. "Then you and I are gonna have a little "private" time."

Dinner in the mess was always a family affair and Salim was the only one who didn't realize that something was going on. He rose from the table, went towards the gym where he could meditate and bid his good evenings.

"So," Riddick started sitting on the couch. "I was wondering how you both felt about you know, making it official."

Kalifa looked at him shocked. Riddick never talked about New Mecca or what had been going on the predicate him saving Anne. "Uh," looking at Anne who helped Jack clean the dishes. "we don't get a lot of chances to talk about it. Father is very…"

"I know I see. What do you say Anne, you gonna put up with this guy for the rest of your life?"

"Yes." She said shyly. Riddick had never been this open with her and it made her nervous.

"We're 12 hours out of New London, I think we can safely put down if you can handle the fast restock and refuel." He told them taking Jack and walking with her out.

Jack squeezed his hand when she heard the squeal of delight from Anne, then a hushed silence. "Thank you."

"Now, I think you and I need to "talk"." he told her lifting her up and carrying her towards their room.

He slammed the door, locked it and they did more than just talk.


	49. Evading Toombs, Riddick and Jack Style

Toombs found an acceptable crew about two days later. He wanted men that would obey his commands but keep this bounty to themselves. He didn't need the entire universe knowing his business.

Janis, a woman in her early forties stood on the med deck checking the computer and inventorying supplies. "Nice ship Captain. I've worked on worse."

He immediately liked her. She was tall, brunette, and built like a brick shit house. "Thanks Doc."

"Janis, call me Janis." She said actually blushing. He smirked, no one had ever blushed at anything he said. But, he thought, there's a first time for everything.

"Sure Janis, we're in for a long haul and no cryo. So get used to being stuck with a bunch of horny bastards." He said laughing.

"No cryo, why?" she asked sitting down on the stool next to the drug cabinet.

"No cryo for us, just for the rest of the crew. Gotta monitor the tracking beacon." He told her, "Got a big payday and I need to adjust course when he does."

"Who might that be?" she asked suggestively.

"Richard B. Riddick." Was all he said.

"You're kidding, he's dead." She said shocked. "Nope. Slipped away again. Like a fucken cockroach he is."

"Any body else?" she said suddenly curious. She signed on knowing that he was a merc and that he'd just gotten a huge payday and she wanted to get paid, then she could get away from New Mecca for good.

"A girl." He told her handing her a dossier. "Holy man had her for a while after the crash of the Hunter Gratzner, and then Riddick came and got her, but came back to clear the payday on their heads, fucked up a very wealthy client's family. Old man's paying big to bring em back."

_Jack. Bastards want Jack._

The breath in her chest stopped before she could speak. Her face was a mask of composure as she shrugged off the picture of her daughter and son in law's savior and continued to inventory her supplies. She had nothing now to keep her on New Mecca and she knew that Jack had saved them both from a life worse than death.

"She's a hot little piece isn't she?" she said batting her eyes and trying to remember if she still had the codes to contact Jack. "How we gonna find her in this big bad universe."

"That Janis, is the beauty of it. Tracking beacon, placed on her landing gear. Can't remove it without letting us know either. I love technology."

_Really, so do I_… she thought trying to still the oncoming panic in her heart.

_So do I.  
_

* * *

"Riddick," Jack asked as she finished her kata in the gym. "how long until we hit land?" 

"Three hours, whatcha got in mind there princess?" he said winking.

"Nap. I'm getting tired. Sasha told me to rest this afternoon and I wanted to be strong for the walking and shopping. How are we on money?"

"Well," he said picking her up and walking towards their room, "We have four different credit chips still unused, and that's not even counting the account I have before I came back, so we're good, why?"

He laid her down on the bed and straightened out her legs. Sasha had told him that keeping her legs straight promoted good blood flow to the baby.

"How much was this ship?" she asked.

"150,000 credits why?" he asked not liking the line of questions. This was his ship, his baby and he liked it fine.

"Just curious. Hey, my laptop is beeping, bring it over here please?" she asked trying to sit up. Her waist had ceased to exist and he laughed because she had been so thin to begin with and now had a ball forming around her waist and he loved seeing her squirm when she forgot about it and tried to manuver around.

She opened it and a message was flashing.

"It's in Arabic and not on any channel I normally use anymore." She said confused.

"Translate it." he said sitting behind her and allowing her to lean back putting the laptop on her small pouch. "Cute Jack, look your own table."

"Riddick, shut up, you ass." She said running the encryption software.

_Jack, my beloved friend. I am sorry to have to tell you this, but you are in danger. I will contact you soon. Your ship has a tracking beacon and you are being tracked. Land immediately and leave the ship, take everything you have and flee._

_Do not attempt to remove it. On landing gear. Will alert Toombs, Toombs a merc has been recruited to find you, payday 2.25 million for you and your friend. My children are well and will bless me with grandchildren in spring. _

_Because of you they live. I am on the ship as doctor, didn't know why we were going just got told, now can't go without blowing my cover. _

_Stay safe._

_Raphella Janis._

"Can we EVER get a break?" she asked him leaning back and almost throwing the machine across the room.

"That _was _our break princess." He said kissing her neck. "Fucking Toombs. Son of a bitch can't get enough of tracking me." he growled. "Sleep a bit, I'm gonna talk to Kalifa and Salim. Looks like we're buying an new ship. Can we take Sasha with us?"

"Yeah, no problem all I need to do is down load her and reinstall her on the new med computer. OW!" she said leaning back against him. "Your child is kicking my side again. Sasha said I can feel him already because there is no fat on me and I was so thin to begin with. Rub please?" she pleaded wincing.

He obliged trying to think what to do. "How big a ship will we need?"

"Well," she said purring at his touch, "Damn honey, you make me feel sooo good. I love it when you put little guy right to sleep. Salim been sleeping on a mat in the gym, Kalifa in the mess on the couch and Anne in my old room."

"You mean the room you stayed in for a few days." He quipped remembering her midnight jaunts to his bed.

"Yes." She said playfully through her teeth. "One for the baby, sleeping quarters for a crew of 5 at least and a kick ass med lab, Sasha got spoiled you know."

He laughed and the baby kicked against his hand making him smile. "I love you." he said to the lump.

She began to cry. "God you're killing me here."

"Sh, I love _you _too." He said kissing her neck again. "Baby, you both are my world and if I have to change ships ten times, then so be it. We should get a good price for this one, with the upgrades we've put on it, and plus it hasn't been sh-"_shot at…_

"Don't say that word, you'll jinx us." She said hushing him with her fingers on his lips.

He laughed loudly.

"Lay down baby and I'll talk to the others, can't see where its gonna be a problem. Anything to get the mercs off our necks." He said laying her down and putting a blanket on her. "Love you Jack."

"Love you too Riddick." She said closing her eyes.

* * *

Damn, fucking Toombs. The one motherfucker that won't let it go. "Salim, Kalifa, I need to talk to both of you, meet me on the bridge." 

Both me know me well enough now to know when the shit is hitting the fan. They've killed with me, that's something.

"Riddick?" Kalifa asks when they both arrive. "What's wrong?"

"Mercs. Tracking us right now. Jack got a message from an old friend who just happens to be on a merc ship. You know Raphella Janis?"

"You mean _Dr. Janis _?" Salim asks looking at the floor. Now ain't that interesting.

"I guess." I say cause I can smell embarrassment on him, and it's pretty fucked up, even Kalifa notices it. But my look to Kalifa and we move on.

"Good woman, widow. Both girls married and killed in their first year. I set her up with Jack so she could save her youngest. It has been almost a year since I spoke with her. Why?" he tells me and I know that there's more to the story than that.

"Contacted Jack. She's with a merc named Toombs, only goes in for big paydays. High profiles." I tell him. _Fucking asshole, uses the god damn bit and cryo to torture me. Twice he got me and I escaped. He won't get a third…_

"And I suspect that Faisal's father's brother wants you both now that he has engaged this merc. Barbarous." Salim says pacing.

"We're needing an new ship. You both okay with that?"

"You're the captain Riddick, you lead we follow." Kalifa says and that feels good someone else who thinks I more than a convict.

"We land in two hours, tell Anne to pack everything up, and don't wake Jack, she's sleeping." I order.

"Yes, Riddick, I mean captain." Kalifa says and winks. Salim stays behind for some reason.

"You got something you want to say Salim?" I ask him prepping the ship to land.

"Yes." He tells me and I feel the fatherly vibe coming on strong.

"Say it, have a seat." I tell him showing him the co-pilot's seat.

"I have known Jack for almost 5 years. I have seen you since you returned and again once you returned to Hellion Prime, and I must say, I have never seen her so happy. You were known to me as a murderer, and a dangerous man, but I always form my own opinions. You are a man that is honest, true and loyal. Whatever life you had before the crash on that deadly planet Riddick, this one is the one that will make who you are. Nothing before it matters. I have seen death in your eyes, and watched you bring it, but I have also seen love, compassion and know that that is truly who you are. Son, you are a good man I wanted you to know that."

He says that shit to me, bows and leaves me alone on the bridge.

What am I supposed to say to that?

_What can you say dickey boy, the man's right. You changed_, my beast boasts, feeling content like a cat getting stroked.

_You've got one reason you're that way. JACK._ My beast purrs in my ear next. It's right. Because of Jack, I'm better than I was.

* * *

"Jack, wake up." Anne says and Jack looks up groggy. 

"What?" she asks looking around, she's all sleepy and rumpled, my favorite kind of Jack.

Anne smiles cause I'm standing at the door. "Cause you need to sit your ass down so I can land this puppy."

"My lord beckons." She tells me smirking. "Sure, keep your pants on."

She is moving slow and I know it's because she's feeling like shit. Ever since she gave the med computer AI I use it to get some tips on being sensitive, hey I'm not fucking perfect. Plus she knows Jack, she's programmed with Jack's personality, so its an advantage I'm exploiting.

She's been having nightmares again. Started up last night and she's needing some sleep, good uninterrupted down time. Once we're back on our way she's gonna get that. Plus a lot of pampering, cause I feel like it. She deserves everything and I get off on seeing her happy.

"You sure you're up for this?" I ask walking with her. "We need to get you something that fits, something that's more comfortable. What do you think?"

Hey, I'm trying to be sensitive here.

"I'm fat." She tells me. _Yeah with my baby in that belly of yours. Growing fat is good princess._

"You're not fat, just expanding to bring my 'strapping' son into the world." I tell her as smug as I can make it. Got to fuck with her a little.

"We'll know the sex in three more weeks bucko so don't bet the farm on a swinging dick yet." She smirks. OUCH. Damn Jack that was good.

"We need more fresh fruit, and veggies. Sasha's orders, that and meat." She tells me and this I know, Doc and I are buddies now that Jack is pregnant. I want to know it all and I won't be kept in the dark if I can help it.

"Jack, I talked to the guys. We're getting a new ship. I need you and Anne to pack up our stuff. Get everything you can and what you can't we'll ditch. Is there anything you want in particular when I look for something?"

"A huge bath tub." She laughs. "Something ORCA the killer whale could fit in."

We are both laughing cause I know she's feeling big. "Okay, princess, any other requests?" _You haven't seen big yet, wait till you're nine months…_

"A big ass bed, with fluffy pillows and a lot of candles, so you won't have to wear your goggles."

Now there's an idea. Natural light works best for me and I wouldn't have thought about it.

"Don't worry Jack, I've got good ideas, plus Kalifa and Salim are coming two, we're a team now. It's not just you and me anymore, we're all a team. You okay with that?" I ask her cause these guys are all the family she's got, besides me.

She's teary again. Damn, hormones are good _and_ bad. "Don't cry princess, we'll be fine."

"I know. I'm just so, freaking sick of these hormones…" she laughs and we walk onto the bridge where the others are sitting. "They make me such a wuss."

I laugh, they make you my Jack kid, so get over it.

"Hey guys. Dr. Janis contact me." she starts to say and they all stop her with "We know."

She's pissed cause she's behind the curve. Get over it Jack, let's land and shake this bulls eye and go on.

* * *

"New London, this is the Hot Tamale, requesting permission to land." Riddick said, wearing his contacts, a white dress shirt, black slacks and his black boots. 

"State the nature of your visit." A female voice asked over the comms.

"Refit, refuel and three days visit to local merchants for supplies." He crooned and she responded very favorably, much to Jack's displeasure.

"Well, captain if you _need _anything, just let me know, my name's Candice." She flirted back and he shook his head. _Jack's gonna kill me… But I got to fuck with her a little. She's glaring I can feel it. This is too much fun…_

"_Not_ a problem Candice, my name's _Roger_." He said in his sexy purr getting a death glare from Jack accompanied by a prominent finger.

"Land on pad MC-914. Welcome to New London Roger, I get off at 1300. Local time is 1149." She said as her voice drifted throughout the cabin.

Anne could barely contain a laugh as Riddick put down. Kalifa, knowing Jack very well, just tried to concentrate on the blue sky. "Jack?" he said looking at her with his best sucking up face. "Jack?"

"Yes, _Roger_?" she asked looking away trying not to laugh.

"Baby, you know I love you right?" He tried to look apologetic but was flattered that she was jealous, very jealous.

She answered with a put on "Uhuh." Then broke out into fits of hysterical laughter. "Stud, I was sooo impressed."

Everyone broke out laughing after that including Riddick.

"So, here's the plan. We're going to go get the ship first. Then, come back here, get everything loaded, then get our supplies." Riddick said taking Jack's hand and kissing it. "I want to be gone in twenty four hours."

"No problem. Once we buy the ship, or trade this one, we can start moving our belongings." Salim said, "I will stay with the women. I will guard the ship while you and my son go and see about buying us something better."

"Good." Riddick said looking at Jack and Anne as they walked to the med lab. "Jack?"

"Yeah babe what?" she asked as he pulled her into his arms.

"See ya soon." He said kissing her and putting his hand on her stomach. "Bye kid. Let's go." He told Kalifa who walked beside him smiling. "I know a guy who deals nicely. Bought my ship brand new, let's see what he's got for me now."

"No problem my brother." He said and Riddick just looked on, a small smile gracing his lips.

* * *

"Hey, how's it going?" A fat, bald man said sitting at the bar. Riddick smiled, looked at him and slapped him on the back. 

"Good. How the hell are you Fat Tony?" Riddick said sitting next to him. "This is John, John, this is Fat Tony."

"What are you going by these days my friend?" Fat Tony said tossing back a shot.

He weighed about 300 pounds and was no taller than Jack. "Reynolds, Jim, Reynolds."

"Well, Jim, what can I get for you? I like you, you pay up front and no questions. My favorite kind of deal." He said ordering something for his new friends.

"Need a new ship." He told him.

"Business doing that well? Good for you." he told him. "Any requests? I've got 10 ships now ready for launch. One a special order that went through. Captain got ghosted by a gambler at one of the casinos. Bad for my business. Top of the line. You interested?"

"Sure. How about now?" he asked looking around the bar for anyone familiar.

"No problem. It's bigger than yours, rich guy, with a bigger crew. More expensive."

"How much more expensive?" Riddick asked taking a drink of the beer Tony had ordered him.

"With your trade, an extra 100,000." He told him getting off the stool, which looked as if would break at any moment.

Riddick shrugged and told Kalifa with his eyes not to worry. "We'll see."

Fat Tony didn't walk, he waddled and Riddick knew him well enough to know that whatever ship he got, wouldn't go without a bit of haggling. He also knew that he was a straight shooter.

"Business good?" he asked making small talk.

"Yes, makes for nice presents for the wife." He said probing a bit, Tony's wife was a bitch, but all his girlfriends were beautiful. "But better head from the girlfriends though. Ha, ha. Get yourself one, it's a trip, the minute you settle down, you're looking around for new ones…"

_Not for me. I like mine just fine. _"So John, you know our friend long?"

"Years. Bit rough around the edges but hey, we all can't be smooth." He scoffed fitting right in.

"This one's got a more advanced nav computer, better propulsion, six cryo tubes in the hold, and a new med suite. Got two beds in it just in case you have trouble. No takers in six weeks."

"No tracking devices?" Riddick asked looking at him.

"No and I can do a sweep of the ship if you want. Or just give you the software. You got a geek on your crew?"

He smiled when he looked at Kalifa, "Yeah, I got one. Serious nerd." He said thinking of how Jack would kill him if he heard him. Kalifa smiled.

"That's a serious grin there Jim. Something I should know?" Fat Tony asked laughing.

"Inside joke." Riddick replied. "Damn Tony, you aren't kidding. How much cargo can she hold?"

"Three full bays, and the mess is the size of a diner. This guy had a crew of twenty. Do me a favor, take it. I like you, you never give me trouble. It even has an office off from the master suite."

"Did you say master _suite_?" Riddick asked slightly interested. But inside, he thought about converting it to a baby room. "Really."

"Yeah, home in the big blackness of space. This guy liked pleasure." Tony said unlocking the black space ship.

"Don't we all." Kalifa said looking at Riddick then at Tony. All three men laughed loudly and continued up the gang plank.

They toured the ship for an hour and Kalifa knew from Riddick's wink that this was what they were going to get. No others would do, it was big enough for what they wanted. Plus Jack would be pleased, it had soft sheets, a big bed and a huge bath room.

Plus they had a time schedule.

"My ship, plus 75k?" Riddick asked looking at Tony who sat in the mess looking out into the blackness of space.

"85 and you have a deal Jim, I need to move this." He said tired of waiting.

"Done. You got a bank you want me to transfer it to?" Riddick said looking at Tony.

"Here," he said handing him a chip that had all the codes and account numbers on it.

"Let's go John, tell the crew to saddle up." Riddick told him. "One hour Tony, and thanks."

When they arrived back at the ship, Jack was asleep in the mess. Salim and Anne had finished packing their things and everything waited for them in the hold on pallets. Kalifa and Riddick noticed under the recess panel a blinking red light no bigger than a fist and Riddick cursed out loud before he entered his ship for the last time.

Salim stood guard just inside waiting like a sentinel. "We have a new ship. Where's Jack?" Riddick asked walking onto the ship.

"Sh. Your woman is sleeping." Salim told him. "She has downloaded and wiped all the computers of our presence and we are ready to go. All we need is something to remove our belongings. Anne took all the medical supplies. I have secured the weapons. Jack took care of your personal belongings."

Tony was sending men to move the pallets to the new ship and take ownership. Riddick smiled looking at her and thought he was a lucky son of a bitch.

"Princess, time to wake up." He said nipping her ear. She grinned at looked up.

"Hey." He couldn't stop smiling. He loved when she woke up and smiled at him. Unguarded Jack loved him unconditionally and he couldn't get enough of that.

"Hey." He said sitting down. "Time to go."

"Okay, let me get my coat." She told him while he helped her up.

"Tired?" he asked and she nodded. "We'll get on the new ship and you can get some rest. Then tomorrow we get supplies."

"Whatever you say, captain." She smirked as he escorted her out and down the gang plank.

Tony was down at the dock where the new ship had been moved to and he smiled when he saw Riddick. "And **_who_** is this?" His eyes looked Jack and Anne up and down and he smirked, giving Riddick a covert approval. Females… Damn, you must be getting some good ass from those two…

"Angel." She said holding her hand out. "This is my father Sam and my sister Alice, we're hitching a ride to Tangier 2. That's where we're going to stay, back home finally after getting to see the big bad universe, right Dad?"

"That is true. We are tired of trying to find someplace suitable." He told the man holding out his hand as well once she had shook it.

"Taking passengers, good Reynolds." He said to Riddick. "Let's get you moved. I see you made some upgrades and no bullet holes or pulse blasts. I'll say one thing, you do take care of your equipment."

"Yeah, I'm like that, a hands-on kind of guy." He told Tony glad that Jack's coat covered her body so well. Better no questions. Jack was also quick on her feet throwing him off the trail. They were going nowhere near Earth and even if Toombs got to Tony, he wouldn't be able to tell they were going the other way.

* * *

"Hey Janis?" Toombs shouted running from the mess to her quarters off the med lab. 

"What?" she asked taking her glasses off and looking up giving him her best smile.

"Pay dirt. They hit New London. Checked the computer and it's blipping like crazy. We're a week out. Gonna have fun now!"

"That's good, after wanna get a drink?" she asked looking at him and smiling.

"Sure toots, anything you want." He said winking before running back to the bridge.

* * *

"Reynolds," Tony said walking to the office where he'd sign the papers. "What name and who's the captain?" 

"The Flying Dutchman." Riddick said smug, he always wanted to name his after a phantom ship. "James, Brendan Reynolds and John Reynolds on the manifest."

"You didn't tell me he was your brother." Tony said, surprised.

"Well, there you are." He said and Kalifa could have kissed him. Right on the mouth he was so happy.

"Always good for the family to go into business. Saves on trying to fit a crew around strangers." Tony added. He watched as the money was credited to his account and slapped Riddick on the back. "Like I said, I love a man who pays up front."

"Thanks Tony. See ya." Riddick said as he walked with Kalifa towards the new ship. He watched the pallets loaded and Jack and Anne disappear up the plank.

"Tonight we celebrate, but at another hanger, and outside the city limits. I want nothing to go wrong this time. New London's where shit got fucked and I'm not putting her though that again."

"Whatever you say my brother. Whatever you say." Kalifa said walking aboard beaming.

Riddick heard Jack gasped when he walked up through the opening. She was gawking and it couldn't have sounded better. "Jack? Oh Jack?" he sang looking for his best friend, lover and soul mate.

"I'm speechless." She said looking at the mess.

"Had to happen sometime." He quipped. "Welcome to your new home baby. Hope it works for you."

She laughed and smacked his arm. She rolled her eyes as if to say, DUH. "Just when I was getting good at hide and go seek."

"All bets are off now, you'll have to try harder to hide." He smirked kissing her forehead.

"You know what this means don't you?" she asked grinning the way she did when she was wanting some.

"Yup." He said lifting her up and walking down the hall.

"God you're so easy. Where's the fun, the chase?" she said in mock disgust.

"Wait, you'll see." He smirked pulling her inside a dark room. "Lights 100 percent."

"Holy shit. This is our place?" she asked as he put her down. It was a large bedroom, a huge bed, on a platform. To one side there were two dressers and a closet, a desk, a large screen TV, a bathroom, and a couch and two chairs.

On the floor was a deep red rug resembling her persian one back in New Mecca and lamps with soft lighting were strategically placed around the room. There was a door to another room she didn't bother with and she looked at her and stood speechless.

"Stunned into silence twice in one day. Must be a record." He told her sitting on the bed. "Try it out, you _know_ you want to."

"Beast." She said smiling but demurely decline.

"Damn right." He said crooking his finger. "Come here princess."

She walked over grudgingly, playful and smiling a big pout on her face. "If I have to."

She jumped in his lap and laughed. "Spoiling me will get you everywhere."

"I knew that."

"I bet you did."

His hands pushed her down against him and when his lips touched hers it told her everything she needed to know.

I love you. I value you. I want you to know I care what you think.

All these things she had been so deprived of for years. "I love you Jack. I'm glad, you like the ship."

"I think it's great, big enough for us all and then some. Get a good deal?"

"A bit over priced but we're all right." He said kissing her neck and listening to her growl. "Love that sound Jack."

He kissed her again and again until her growl matched his own.


	50. Riddick finally learns a secret

**Break out the tissues girls, this made me cry to write.**

**This is for Rose, and for Sita. I love Sita's work if anyone wants to read something FANTASTIC read HATE vs LOVE! FABULOUS.**

**HOT! FOUR STARS AND A FIRE HORN GOOD! Riddick's Sita is her pen name.**

**(pardon the shameless plug there...)**

**For the faithful, you all will not wonder how Riddick got his start any longer...**

* * *

Riddick let Jack sleep for at least four hours before waking her. They had made love twice and when he rose off the bed she could barely keep her eyes open. "Sleep Jack. I'll be back later and we can celebrate the new ship and shop a bit. You need your rest. Anne's uploading Sasha so don't worry." 

With this new ship he could move it freely while on the planet without bothering any body. He lifted off shortly after making sure she was asleep and moved to a remote landing bay far from their original position.

"Salim, what do you think?" Riddick asked as he sat in the pilot's chair.

"Impressive. I must say you have very good resources to afford this."

"Thank you. Have you been able to choose your quarters, I hear we have several." He said making conversation, something he never was good at but tried to work on anyway.

"Not as yet, I shall after I have a word with you about my son. He has expressed a desire to be joined to Anne."

"Yeah, heard that." Riddick said setting the controls.

"You will marry them?" he asked looking sternly at him, like a father would.

"Yes." He told him looking at him with his shined eyes. "They're both adults, I wouldn't think you'd want them to act any way that would get them into trouble now would you?"

* * *

"Like you and Jack." He answers looking at me. _Busted there dickey boy._

Now I'm not leaving that hanging. Not on your fucken life. "What are you saying, that I should make her an honest woman?"

I laugh hard and long, but his expression doesn't change. Shit. "I've already asked, pops and she told me when this is all over, we'll do it."

"You have a child coming into this world Riddick, you must think of that first. You may never be rid of this bounty, have you not thought about _that_?"

He had a point, not that I like being bitched at by a 50 year old man in a tunic and robe. "I know, but I can't marry us."

"You cannot, but in the book it states that it is merely the commitment made in front of a witness that is the most important." He tells me.

"Stability is something Jack craves, even if she doesn't know it. I watched her cling to routine, and ritual to ease the torment of the unknown."

You mean that's how she dealt with the fact I wasn't there all that time, I figured that out already old man.

Then I got to thinking about our little rituals. The kisses, good morning, and good night. The way she makes meals, the way she works her kata. I see it now and it's fucken amazing.

"I see. Let me work on that okay?" I tell him and look back to the console.

* * *

"Welcome home Sasha." Jack said loudly looking in the state of the art med lab. 

"Wow Jack, talk about an upgrade." She heard her own voice say as the computer raced through it's programming.

"Happy birthday, you're three months old and Riddick and I have a new ship." She told her laughing. "Bigger brain will make it easier to diagnose and treat, are you happy with the new surroundings?"

"Definitely kiddo. Hop up on the table kid and let's have a look." Sasha boomed, her voice echoing throughout the room.

Jack stepped up and laid herself down on the table feeling awkward. Riddick's booming laughter caught her by surprise as she looked at him watching the blue light descend over her body.

"Hey Doc," he said smiling broadly. "How's the new place feeling?"

"Beautifully chosen Riddick. Wait a moment. Riddick?" she asked as he helped Jack sit up. He noticed her a little bigger and crooked an eyebrow. _What the hell? Jack, you looked like you swallowed a ball._

"What's wrong Doc?"

"What do you remember about your birth mother?" Sasha asked beeping and whirring like mad.

He went silent. "Nothing except that I was found behind a dumpster with the cord wrapped around my neck. Next thing, I'm five and in a foster home. Why?"

"There is that medallion Jack wears, was that your mother's?" she asked.

"Yeah, so?" he said not liking the fact that Sasha was picking into his past. He wanted to forget the past. Stay in the present, and look forward to the future.

The past only represented darkness and pain, and the future meant Jack, and the light.

"I have access to considerable information not limited to my medical databanks one moment please." Sasha said and was silent. "Have you ever heard of a race called the Furyans?" she asked as Jack hopped off the table and tucked in her favorite black shirt, a little too tight now for her liking.

"It was a race of warriors that fought like a bat out of hell. But they were all but exterminated." Jacksmirked, suddenly getting a glare from Riddick. "Hey sue me, I paid attention in history class."

His eyes were wide with nervous fear, something that she had never seen before. And she didn't like it when he felt so vulnerable, because it made him mad as hell.

"We have fragmented DNA samples from that race to compare with and my sample of your blood indicates that you are of that race Riddick. Historical accounts state that tens of thousands of male Furyan children were strangled at birth to keep them from resisting a massive alien invasion thirty years ago. The medallion is made of an alloy only found on the Furyan homeworld, which sadly is now a dead planet so radioactive that it glows from space."

The truth of the fact that he was Furyan didn't hit him for several seconds. It was the fact that Sasha could tell him it so easily that shocked him. That in seconds she knew more about him than he had ever been able to find out.

Sasha continued. "Theirs was the race that would not bow. It is a race of hardened warriors, and even the women fought against their oppressors."

"That's figures, look at you, you'd butt heads with anyone." Jack said trying to soothe him but she could feel his oncoming tension and backed off. But to Riddick, all he felt was oddly vulnerable.

Exposed. Afraid. And his rage swelled inside him at the feelings and his hands fisted at his sides.

"So," he said feeling cornered, "what does any of this have to do with Jack?"

"Furyan pregnancies are 6 months in duration. That is why Jack is getting bigger so fast."

"That explains a lot." she said rubbing her stomach.

There was something else, something Sasha did not intend to divulge but the couple watched as the DNA makeup of mother and child appeared. They matched, perfectly.

"Doc, what the fuck is that on the screen?" Riddick asked feelingrage billowing upand not being able to understand why.

"Riddick, I'm sensing your blood pressure has elevated, please calm down." Jack's voice crooned.

"Answer the fucken question Doc." He said through his teeth. She had no idea what was going through his mind, but Jack did. He was going through a terrible time and nothing Jack could say would make it better.

"Jack's DNA has been altered." Sasha told them as he had to sit down again.

"Furyan males have the ability, in order to preserve the race, to alter the DNA of any female through impregnation. Jack, once human, is now Furyan. It is a fail safe in the genetic engineering that was part of your homeworld's reproductive programs. That's why she healed so well after New Mecca, that she didn't lose the baby when, as a human, she would have."

"So what you're saying is that I'm Furyan now, just because I'm carrying his baby?" Jack asked rubbing the large knot between his shoulders.

"No Jack, not exactly. They both have. Both Riddick and the baby have done this to you." Sasha told him. "Through Riddick's sperm, your son has altered your DNA to make you stronger. To make it easier to birth him and his brothers and sisters later on. He's made your appetites larger, your metabolic rate, your ability to heal, everything."

He was still processing the information. Furyan. Warrior. It seemed to fit. And now Jack was like him. "Are there others like us?"

"Scattered around the universe I imagine. But you're the only ones I know of. But then again, I'm just a med computer. That's why Jack is progressing so fast, the baby, a combination of the your new genetic makeup and Riddick being so inner connected to you is allowing your son to grow getting VERY healthy and strong, fast. And that is why she has gotten stronger, and gets more tired. The first baby is the most strenuous. But Jack has good insides Riddick, she'll do fine birthing the baby in a little over 7 weeks."

A son... He couldn't begin to contemplate it. A son, a healthy boy...

"Great." Jack said looking at Riddick trying to get him smile, even a little.. "You did this to me."

"Hey princess, you and I _both_ did that. Don't go blaming me." he scoffed. "Sasha, what does the medallion mean?"

"Accessing." Sasha told him while pictures popped up on the view screen of the Furyan homeworld. It was a world of amber light, much like Hellion prime, with vast oceans and delicate mountain ridges. Beautiful.

Then his heart broke when he saw it now. Black, glowing an awful puce color with red skies.

"Your mother was an important woman. Only noblewomen carried these medallions, they wore them as a sign of their fidelity and loyalty to their mates. It was a mating medallion."

Jack took Riddick and held him, allowing his cheek to rest against her breast while she rubbed and caressed his neck and face. She soothed him from the gut wrenching overpowering sense of despair, loss and guilt.

Guilt that he'd done that to her.

Despair that he had a mother, a real mother that cared about him enough to leave that with him.

Loss at the life he could have led. Loss of all his people.

"The inscription is in Furyan." She began as Jack went to hold his hand and hug him tightly. "It says, loosely translated since Furyan language has it's own nuances:

This is my child, the light of my heart.

May he live to fight, may his star shine bright."

His hand tensed in hers and she felt him hold his breath. "That and your true name."

_His true name…_

"What is it Sasha?" he asked his voice cracking.

"You will not believe it when I tell you Riddick. Your name is Riddick. Whoever named you must have been Furyan or someone who could read it. It's right underneath the inscription, look."

He went to the medallion, turned it over and saw alien scrawl. "These medallions are holographic devices, didn't you know?"

The shock on his face was evidence that he did not.

* * *

I can't talk right now, I'm too stunned to utter a word. "How can we access it?" 

My insides are twisted in a knot and I can't breathe. My fucking mother. I can't do this. I can't fucking breathe. God damn it…

"Accessing databanks." Sasha tells me and my palms are sweaty and I can't seem to breath.

"Sit down honey." Jack tells me and leads me to the stool. I can't believe this. Thank you Fat Tony for giving me a ship with a bigger brain.

Jack removes the medallion and hands it to me. She looks at me and smiles, I'm shaking like a leaf.

I look at her stomach and think I did that to her, I fucked up her DNA all because I wanted her.

I didn't know…

"Baby, don't you go thinking that." She tells me like she knows what I'm thinking. "I'm like you now, but that's a good thing. Hey, look at me."

I raise my eyes up and my throat is dry and hurts like a son of a bitch.

"I love you. Nothing is gonna make me think that this is a bad thing. Stronger, better, how can that be bad? Normal, that's for pussies."

I laugh, but I still want to blow. I'm feeling so angry, so hurt this shit has got to stop. But my chest is gonna explode. This fucken hurts so bad I can't stand it.

"Riddick, your DNA is what unlocks it. Turn it over, run your finger down and across in a circular motion three times then place it on the table. I will feed the automatic translator so that whatever is spoken you can understand. It will still retain the resonance of the voice of the person whoever speaks but it will be in English."

Jack looks at me. "You don't have to do this." She tells me.

Yeah I do. More than anything I have ever done in my life.

"Lights, off." Sasha says and I'm in darkness, clinging to Jack like she's oxygen.

A tall beautiful woman, dressed in silver, and her hair high and back away from her face is standing before Jack and I. Her neck is slender, she's a knockout. But that's nothing compared to her voice when she begins to speak.

I can't breathe. OH god! That's my mother...

* * *

"My son." She started and Riddick's hold on Jack increased. Tears stung his eyes because he looked upon the face of his mother. 

He had dreamed of her many times, but nothing compared to what he saw in the darkness. He looked at herdeep silky sablehair, beautiful creamy caramel skin, and large dark eyes that seemed to go right through him, following his gaze. Her hands, delicate and beautiful were gracefully at her sides and her smile melted him instantly.

"I am sorry that I had to leave you, but your life was much more important than mine. Escape from Furya was the only way to ensure your survival. My name is Layna. Your Father was Riddick too. He died to allow my escape. That is why you are named for him. I am gone but the blood that flows in your veins will go on. It will go on in your children, and in your heart's love. That is our gift to you my son. I did not abandon you. Remember that. I did this to give you a fighting chance to live. Never let anyone subjugate or keep you from that which you love. Never submit, no matter what the cost, except only to love."

He tried to steel himself against the melodic tones of her voice, the gentleness amidst the hardness of her body and mind. But the tears ran down his cheeks like water and he clung to Jack like he had never to anyone in his life.

"Riddick, my son, my love for you is boundless. If you are fortunate to find such love, hold onto her like she is the life sustaining blood in your veins. I love you my child, my joy and I will see you on the other side, with my arms open and my heart full of pride that you are my son."

Then the room went black and all Jack could feel and hear was the wracking sobs from the man with the silvery eyes who let no one in, who killed to save her, who swallowed hatred to steel himself against loss. For nearly an hour she held him, soothing him without words, humming softly like she did when he was ill.

It was only when Kalifa walked passed the darkened med lab, and noticed two figures in the darkness and felt the upset did Riddick sit up and sniff.

"Everything okay?" he asked looking towards Jack.

"Fine Kalifa." Jack said waving him off. He took the hint and made a hasty exit. "Hey?"

"I'm fine Jack." He said his voice rough and hoarse.

"I love you."

"Love you too Jack." He said burying his face in her shirt. "Man, this fucken hurts."

"I know baby." She told him. "I know."

* * *

**Did anyone need a kleenex? I sure did....**


	51. New London

Kalifa stood biting his hand. He knew grief, unrestrained torturous grief that was so profound that it felt like someone was ripping his guts out and kicking him in the head. He stood just out of view and listened to the strongest man he had ever met weep like a child.

His respect for Riddick was so fathomless after that, that no one could dare come near him try to harm him or Jack and live. He would do anything for this man, he would be loyal to this man unto death.

He saw Anne in the hallway, and stopped her before she got any farther, and in quiet Arabic he told her what had transpired.

"He has found his origins, he knows of the pain his mother went through and Jack is with him. He is undone and grieves most painfully." He told her taking her hands.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She knew much about Riddick from the private conversations she had over the years with Jack, how he had no one to hold on to and that he was utterly alone. To find him so affected by the revelation that his mother did not abandon him, that her sacrifice was so noble tore at her heart just as they walked towards the mess.

"Oh my love. There is no pain worse." She said sitting down and succumbing to tears.

But Kalifa could think of only one. The face Riddick showed him and his father when he thought he lost Jack.

"He will be all right. He has Jack. Jack is his Jabbar Wadd. (true love) She will comfort him." He said holding her hand.

* * *

Riddick cleared his throat and spoke, the first rational words in nearly an hour. "Lights, forty percent."

"Riddick, are you feeling better?" Sasha asked Jack still cradling his smooth head in her lap. She had move to sit on the table and he laid his cheek against her thighs and let her pet him silently.

Her touch, soft and delicate, soothed the raging flood of emotion within him and the pounding searing pain in his head eased when her fingers massaged his temples.

"Yeah." Was all he said. His face was swollen from tears he had repressed his entire life and he was weary. Tired and worn out, he took Jack's hand and led her out into the hallway. "I love you." he said kissing her palm. "Thanks for being there for me."

"Hey, this is me you're talking to, we've been attacked by monsters, chased all over the universe, stabbed, poisoned and nearly killed. Don't worry about it big guy, I'd do that for you any day of the week." She told him wiping his tear stained cheek. "Come on, let's get something to drink."

"OK." He said feeling kind of numb.

When they reached the mess, Anne and Kalifa were sitting talking low in Arabic. He didn't know what they were saying but he had no doubt they heard his torturous cries from anywhere they happened to be on the ship. He wasn't exactly quiet when his breakdown occurred and frankly didn't care.

It had been a long time coming. He was spent, hurting all over and wanted nothing more than Jack curled up in his lap telling him he wasn't alone just by her mere presence. Later he would get that, he would soak up the reassurance she provided and he would feel the love he'd been denied.

"Are you hungry Riddick? I could fix you something." She offered trying to be helpful. Her eyes betrayed her knowledge of what had transpired, the shiny unshed tears still waiting to fall.

"No, not just now. But thanks. What time is it?" he asked and she answered, late afternoon. "Let's get supplies and get off this planet. Toombs and Dr. Janis should be here in a few days. I want to be long gone before then." _And safe in space._

"Sure, Riddick. I'll get my father. We can be ready in a few minutes." Kalifa said leaving.

"Anne, thanks for not saying anything." Jack told her when Riddick went to their rooms and to check on something outside the mess.

"His cries broke my heart to pieces. He was in pain, like a animal caught in a snare. You must love him very much." She said hugging her.

The baby kicked forcefully and Anne and Jack laughed. "It's a strong one."

"And a son. Sasha confirmed it." Jack told her smiling. "I think he wanted a boy."

"Don't care what comes out of that belly princess but yes, a boy was the plan." Riddick said looking like he showered. He wore a clean black wife beater, black mechanics pants, and boots, he held his black leather long coat and wore his goggles and handed her coat to her putting on her. He smile a small smile and kissed her cheek and laughed when she scoffed at him.

Jack looked at him, smiled and her eyes wandered. _Damn he's fine! _Riddick caught her and smiled.

"What supplies are we needing now, this place has everything?" Anne asked as Salim and Kalifa came into the mess. They were dressed for travel.

"Fresh food." Riddick said escorting her down the hall, "clothes for this one. A few essentials and a bassinet. Baby is coming in about a month and a half according to Sasha." Anne's perplexed look made him laugh. "Jack'll tell you later."

"You still have that chip for your sister Kalifa?" Jack asked walking close to Riddick, exactly where he wanted her.

"Yes." He answered walking in front of Anne, habits seemed to die hard even in this company.

"Let Anne use it to buy some "appropriate" clothes." Jack said and she gave a wink to Riddick, who just what she meant. "We need to all stop looking like pilgrims. But," she said looking at Salim, "some may find it more difficult."

* * *

Four hours later the local butcher having taking a rather large order, grinning at the sight of the cash they presented, prepared to have fresh meats delivered to the Flying Dutchman.

Then the men lingered while at the same market the girls went into a shop and came out with a parcel large enough that Riddick had to carry it. He was glad the deliveries had been made.

He had Fat Tony get him in touch with the same people that refit the med suite and paid extra to get them an incubator for the baby, then bribed them to keep it quiet. Both him and Kalifa also did some covert shopping that made the men bond to an even greater extent and Salim just smiled.

Riddick's transformation and reintegration into the human race was progressing faster than the Imam had foreseen.

Riddick had spent the last hour lingering around with Kalifa while Salim watched the girls from a distance. He smiled seeing them so unguarded and knew that they trusted him with their lives, a task he had no problem with fulfilling.

"We're done. Jack is exhausted." Anne announced. She was too. It felt odd to her that she was unveiled, unbound and open for all to see when she'd spent most of her life under the veil. Freedom was frightening but she enjoyed it.

"We ready?" Riddick asked looking at Jack who was almost asleep as she walked.

He took her hand and watched her eyes droop and smiled. They had taken a light supper in a café by the river, the same street that a few months before almost killed them.

His eyes were always on the watch and he wanted nothing more than to get the hell of this planet. They had plenty of food in the freezer, fresh vegetables and grains, fully stocked on food for the food generator after the fresh had run out and Salim, while Riddick and Kalifa waited outside two shops had ordered special wood he would make her bassinet out of. Riddick gave him a non committal nod but inside he was pleased as hell.

He remembered Kalifa had spotted a store that sold jewelry and expressed a desire to buy something for Anne, and he had an idea himself. He smiled at the gift in his coat. Hopefully she would like it, remembering that Ziza had taken his birthday gift and died wearing it.

"Come on princess, time for bed. How's my son? Giving you a hard time already?" Riddick purred in her ear. Once they hit the blackness of space and put foot to ass to get them free of the Valysian system and onto the Meterora system and towards Talos Prime, she'd sleep, and he'd rest.

The day's revelations had worn him out. He felt hurt, and needed some alone time to process everything Sasha had told him. He wanted to try out that shower again and slip into the bed, those cool sheets that he knew would be softer than a baby and pull her into his arms.

"No, he's been quiet. But the moment I stop moving he'll start sparring with my kidneys." She quipped as he laughed a loud deep chuckle. "You all right?"

"I am now. Been talking to Kalifa. I like him. Didn't think I would but I do." He said looking in front of them towards the tall Arab man walking next to a snow white blonde.

"He kinda grows on ya." She said smiling. "Like fungus."

"Yeah." He said kissing her hand. "Let's get off this rock. You got everything you need?"

"Yeah. I wanna sleep for a few hours then I'll unpack everything."

"Sounds good." He told her looking at the ship. "Damn fine ship."

"I want to contact Janis if I could…" she told him as they walked to the bridge.

"Wait until she contacts you. I don't trust anyone besides us. It might be a trap. Granted," He said strapping her in carefully. "she was right about the landing gear."

"OK, I trust you."

"I knew that." He said kissing her forehead.

* * *

Riddick looked at Jack, and by the time they had hit the shipping lanes, set a course, and did the two star jumps to get them on track to Talos Prime, she was fast asleep. Salim smiled and bid his good night, checking on the deliveries in the hold and asked if Kalifa could help him put them in the freezer and the pantry.

"Hey, Anne, help me out?" he asked lifting Jack into his arms.

He walked with Jack to their quarters and Anne turned down the bed. "Good night Riddick. Take care of her."

He actually smirked at her, something he never had done before then closed the door behind him. For Anne, that was progress.

He removed her boots, then her pants, the cargo pants she'd worn that were loose, now fit on the underside of her stomach. He definitely could say she was low and in the front. He removed her socks, looking how her feet seemed to try and find the warmth of the bed by trying to hide under the blankets and smiled.

While he watched her sleep, he thought about the holograph, what his mother had said, validating his dreams that she did not abandon him, that she loved him and his mind wandered.

How different would his life be had she lived? Would he still have Jack?

He pulled a nightgown from the boxes they had yet to unpack and helped her out of the shirt he wore the night he challenged Faisal, she wore it now to hide the baby when they were out.

_So beautiful._ he thought putting it on her. She was exhausted. He'd go and see how Kalifa and Anne were settled and Salim then he'd shower, slip into bed and dream, hopefully good ones.

When he returned an hour later, Jack wasn't in the bed. The room, empty and cold, made him worry. He took off his goggles and looked for her. She was in the bathroom, huddled between the toilet and the tub clutching his shiv, bone handle extended and swiping an arc in the air.

_God damn nightmares. Fuck. At least she didn't hurt herself. Not now with the baby getting bigger…_

"Jack." He said cautiously. He knew better than top blindly approach her when she was like this. Her eyes were open but she was definitely still asleep. "Jack." He said louder. Her eyes blinked a few times and she looked lost.

"Baby come here. I got ya." He told her as he kneeled before her. She sat up slowly and slid into his embrace much like she did when she was younger. "Sh. It's just another dream. You're safe with me. Sh."

"I dreamed they ate you." she said in a small quiet voice shaking.

"Was I tasty?" he crooned in her ear as he picked her up and walked her to the platform.

"Dunno, can I try?" she quipped in his ear, nipping it. "Very tasty."

"You need your rest." He warned, growling at the sensation. _But I could have a little taste couldn't I_ his beast growled.

She's exhausted DOWN BOY.

"You need your rest." She copied. "You need _me_ to rest."

"Hmm." He said as her hands touched his face and neck. "I do. Give me a minute."

He slipped out of his clothes and under the covers feeling the firmness of the mattress and falling into the sheets like he hadn't slept in days. "Damn, this is the best fucking bed I have ever laid on."

She crawled up against him and smiled. "I know, let's just sleep, your son has kicked me since you left, can't get much sleep when that happens." She told him leaning her belly against his side. The baby kicked hard and he felt it from his side as she sucked in a lung full of air.

"Damn Jack." He said lifting his head.

They looked at one another, and smiled. "Furyan" they said at the same time and laughed. He leaned down and laid his cheek against her talking low to his baby.

"Hey kid, give mom a break. And, thanks for helping her get well. I love her too and just thought you should know that. Now quit your kicking and go to sleep."

He sounded a little too gruff and loud but Jack smiled anyway. "Way to go to be subtle, big guy."

"Go to sleep, there you." he quipped pulling her to him. She squirmed against his pelvis smiling like a Cheshire cat. "Jack." He warned. "Sleep now."

"As you wish, my love." She told him and patted his hand, firmly on her belly rubbing the baby back to sleep.

The two, exhausted by the entire twenty four hours, from moving one ship to another, to finding out about the baby, then his mother, slept the dreamless sleep of the weary.


	52. Toombs, Riddick and Jack

To all the ladies, hold onto your seats!

Sorry for the cliffhanger.... I'm not REALLY that sorry. MUAUAUAUAUAUUAUAUAUAUA don't worry will update another chappie today.

Dedicated to my sista sita!

To Rose: what do you think of TOOMBS now? :)

* * *

Toombs sat in a café in New London so fucking pissed he could have ghosted his entire crew, except for Janis, he had a soft spot for her for some reason. And she knew it.

They had spent a almost three weeks looking all over New London for Riddick and Jack, found their ship and he railed on all of them when he discovered that it had been sold and the dealer had no idea where the captain had gone.

The waitress brought him his fourth round and he sat cursing himself. Roper had intercepted a transmission sent in Arabic to a coded channel and he knew that Janis had sent it.

_Why_, he thought they had something between them. She was a damn fine looking woman and he groaned thinking she was using him.

He find that out later, and if he had to hurt her, then so be it. 2 million is a big payday and nothing was gonna stop him from getting it.

"What's wrong Harold?" she asked in a sultry voice. His loins twitched at her using his given name.

"Fucker switched ships and no matter how hard I squeezed Fat Tony, he wouldn't give him up." Then she made it worse by putting her hand on his arm as if to comfort him. "This was a waste of my fucken time."

Inwardly he groaned, no one touched him like that in a long fucking time.

Roper jumped into the seat next to them and smiled a big shit eating grin. "What asshole?"

"Talos Prime my friend." He said triumphantly.

"Now how do you figure that?" he said skeptically. He rolled his eyes and poured himself another.

"Little lady needed clothes for a hot planet, and the only system with warm planets is Meterora. Talos Prime and Talos 4 baby. I am so fucken good!" he said taking a shot and tossing it back.

The others sat around the table looking down and dejected. Roper made no sense half the time and scared them with his reasoning the other half. "Grab some clean panties ladies, we're outa here."

"Doc, can you deliver a baby?" Roper then asked and Toombs' head swung sharply around.

"Why Danny?" she asked her heart suddenly in a ball in the pit of her stomach.

"Cause the shop I showed hottie's picture to was a maternity shop." He told her.

Masking her concern, she simply said, "Sure, it's just like taking candy from a baby." Then she did her best to laugh. But inside her heart was breaking.

"Well, I'll be Dickey boy." He muttered grabbing his coat and walking out the door.

_And baby makes three. You Dog..._

* * *

Riddick stood dripping with sweat. His attacker looked at him with a face as cold and calculating as his own. Both shivs in his hand he looked passed the figure to the light and colors around him.

The attack came swift but Riddick deflected the blow and threw him on his back shiv at his throat ready to cut him without a second glance. The speed with which Riddick countered his move was so quick that he looked like a blur of movement.

"Good!" Salim clapped and Riddick helped Kalifa up. "You're as quick with the lenses as without my son. Good. How does it feel to fight in the light?"

"Weird, but I could get used to it." he told him as Jack handed him a towel. "Fighting for years in the darkness with only the heat signatures to see is something, but seeing the like this again takes a lot of getting used to."

"Again." Salim said taking a knife. "Now fight me with a handicap."

Riddick stood back and watched Kalifa off to the side wiping his face. "Lights off."

The room was plunged into blackness and he remembered his first nights in total darkness with a pang in his chest.

"Shit, okay I see your point." He growled.

"Lights."

Kalifa had him on his back a shiv against his throat. He looked down at him and smirked. Riddick looked furious.

"Enough." Kalifa released him and helped him to his feet. Embarrassed he was so exposed Salim continued to speak handing him a blindfold. "The greatest threat to you is your eyes. When you can learn to see past them, then you won't be as vulnerable."

"Use the force Luke!" Jack said from the position she held next to the mirror.

"Shut it princess." He snarled. He hated being so unprepared. Worse he hated that others saw it.

"Oh, I'm so scared." She taunted. She had a grin on her face that made him instantly furious.

"Out woman!" he shouted startling Anne as well. Kalifa scowled at them both and muttered something not so nice in Arabic.

Jack got up and adjusted her tight black shirt and pants and stormed out, but not before she shot him her best "fuck you" death glare.

Anne followed because she had no desire to be the brunt of Salim's glares or Kalifa's bravado. Riddick, she didn't even want to contemplate his irritation.

* * *

Jack sat in their rooms, her feet up and a blanket around her reading a book. She had not spoken to Riddick since the training session and he was making it plain he didn't want to speak to her.

She had seen Sasha that afternoon who gave her the news that her son was a strapping five pounds already and to pay attention to any pains she might start having.

"_But I've another month to go." _She told her getting off the table. Anne helped her and laughed when Jack stared at the floor unable to see her feet.

"_Jack, stranger things have happened. First babies are usually late but you're Furyan and I don't know anything about their birthing statistics." _Sasha told her.

Jack sat slowly feeling the ire at getting yelled at dissipate. She felt the need to walk around and to make dinner so she got up and walked feeling oddly cramped. But she'd been feeling that way all day, even while she watched the men spar.

She stood at the stove, taking out some chicken to roast and felt the odd feeling again. The baby had been quiet for the last few days which was a blessing since he beat the crap out of her most of the day.

"Hey." She heard from behind her.

"What do you want?" she said stirring the soup she was making.

He was standing in his black cargo pants, his tank and his goggles. "I want to talk to you."

"What makes you think I want to talk to you?" she snapped turning her head around and glaring at him.

* * *

_Damn she's beautiful, even when she's angry._

I shouldn't have snapped at her. But she doesn't realize that if I'm caught with my contacts in, and the lights go out, I need to know what to do and I don't.

I won't be able to protect her.

"Cause you love me." There, she can't say no to that.

"Cause you love me? How many times did you bust my shit when I didn't get it right? Guess that doesn't work both ways. Chauvinistic pig!"

She's flashing me the "kiss my ass" face. I guess she _can_ say no to that.

"That was when there was only you and me princess." I tell her. "Come on, I don't want to be mad and I sure as hell know you don't want to stay mad."

She flips me off. Okay, I may have misinterpreted how pissed she is at me.

Now I'm trying not to lose my temper cause I don't need her bitching at me. "Jack, I need you to stitch me up."

I've a gash on my cheek, it's small but if she concentrates on fixing it she won't be mad. She's been edgy all day. Been cleaning the bedroom three times, wanting to move stuff around. I put a stop to that shit right off. Made her mad even then.

"Get Anne to do it. I'm busy." She growls at me and turns back to the stove.

Something ain't right. She's bitching and I know she's still not mad at me. "Jack? Baby, what's wrong?"

I go to touch her and she flinches. What the FUCK?

She turns sheet white looking at me. "Riddick, we're in trouble."

I look down and there's a puddle on the floor at her feet.

OH SHIT.

* * *

"JACK!" he shouted as Jack grabbed hold of sides of the counter top and screamed.

"Riddick, I'm not feeling so good." She said looking pale and in pain once she caught her breath.

"ANNE!" he bellowed so loudly that Jack actually cringed. "Sorry baby. Come on. Give me your hand. Careful, step good girl."

She put her shaky hands out and he helped her over the mess on the floor. Anne and Kalifa ran in both looking somewhat disheveled. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Salim must be meditating… Get a fucken room.

Their eyes darted from Riddick's worried face, to Jack to the floor and back to Jack. Anne ran off to the med lab and started shouting.

Riddick swept Jack passed the kitchen and Kalifa helped him to get her to the hallway.

A strong pain ripped into her and she shouted, "OH HELL NO!" dropping to the floor.

"Jack!" Riddick said in a voice filled with concern. _Oh shit, no… not now, it's too early…_

"If you thought I was mad at you before, wait bucko, I'm fucken pissed now." she glared doubled over in pain.

Kalifa laughed, a nervous laugh. "Jack, you're just having a baby. It's not the end of the universe."

"That's easy for you to say!" she said breathing shallow. "You don't have this thing wanting out!"

It took them twenty minutes to walk her to the med lab and in that time she had five gut ripping pains.

"Sasha! I'm gonna lobotomize your brain. Why didn't you tell me it hurt this bad?" she shouted as Riddick carried Jack the rest of the way.

"What good would it have done to tell you? It was inevitable." She stated while Riddick put Jack on the table. "Jack, you need to relax. This is going to fast and furious."

"YA think?" she said trying to breathe through another one. Riddick waited for the blue light to pass and held onto her behind her shoulders.

"Jack the good news is that you won't be in pain long." Sasha crooned as her stats and the baby's blipped on the monitor.

"Bad news?" she asked as Riddick rubbed her arms and shoulders softly. They'd watched a few classic movie discs that had fathers helping out and he thought it was a good idea at the time.

Plus Sasha gave him pointers since they found out she was pregnant.

"I found out that Furyan births are painful and you're too far along for drugs."

"You're tough kid, don't forget that. Animal tough." Riddick purred in her ear.

"I can't do this." She said terrified.

"Yes you can." He growled softly in her ear. "I'm here."

"And so am I." Anne, followed by Kalifa, followed by Salim who walked in with his hands ready to help.

"I brought that child into the world, I can do the same for you. That is, if you honor me with the task." He said bowing reverently.

Another pain ripped into her and she screamed arching back against Riddick. "We must undress her as quickly as possible, and move her to the bed. Can your computer monitor her from there?"

"Bet your buns that I can." Sasha crooned. "Hurry, another pain will come in little over a minute."

The three men lifted Jack and brought her to the bed about twenty feet from the diagnostic table. Anne removed her boots, socks and Riddick helped remove her slacks, slick with fluid and a little blood and threw them in a bin.

"Jack, remember what they taught us in school about how to breathe when in pain." She told her sitting on one side and Riddick sitting behind her. "You are so brave."

"Riddick, remember when I told you I was mad?" Jack said slick with sweat and looking at him wide eyed.

"Yeah baby?" He said nuzzling her neck and kissing it, while Anne pulled a gown on her.

"I'm not mad, I can't be mad. I'm sorry!" she shouted as the wave began again. "This really sucks."

"Tell her to calm, I must see if the baby is ready." Salim said as he put on the gloves.

"You're not putting your hands in my wife are you?" Riddick said slipping.

"When did that happen?" she growled, "Was I asleep or something? WE ARE NOT MARRIED! When this fucked up crap is over that's what you said."

"I know…. I was_ supposed_ to have a little more time to talk to you about that. I think we should get married now." he said quietly in her ear. Man he did not want to push it.

"NOW?" she asked incredulously. "Are you high?"

He never looked more serious.

"So what do you say? Still want me?" he chuckled as Salim looked at him funny. He sure picked a strange time to push the issue. But he smiled knowing it kept her mind off the pain.

"Will I get a ring at least later on?" she snarled as the pain started again ripping her apart. "OH GOD This hurts!"

"Anything you want. Just tell me you'll have me, like we said, the house, the garden the beach…" he asked looking at Salim who looked worried.

The clock was ticking.

"YES!" she grunted not wanting to push but feeling the urge. "I'll have you, if I don't kill you first. God I will NEVER do this again!" But he smiled knowing she would.

"So, it is done, you are married." Salim said removing his hand and breathing a sigh of relief. "It is good that you both made the right decision because Jack you need to start pushing now. Count to ten and bear down."

"You've GOT to be kidding." She said looking at Salim like he had a second head.


	53. And baby makes three

**To Rose: I called him Harold. I thought him having a smootzy first name would be funny, the kind that kids made fun of when he was young. He's getting old, and his running around the universe days are dwindling.... can u say retirement?**

**Sita : Thanks for the help with the name...**

**Angeltear15, love ya mean it!**

**All those who just reviewed since 5 WAHOOOOO, over 12 so far!**

**As promised, the birth of the baby furyan.**

**Break out the funny bones and kleenex girls, it's a laugh and a cry all in the same chappy. I'm done for the night, or am I?**

**Fluffy fluffy fluffy with lots of snappy banter, all just for you guys! remember to review, cause I just love em, and keep those suggestions coming.**

**Sneak peek: Toombs takes a shortcut....**

* * *

She cried out several times when they told her to push. "I can't. Stop please, it hurts too much."

"Jack." Riddick encouraged her in her ear. "Breathe kid, it's almost over."

_You've got to be kidding me… _she thought.

"Child, you need to stop moving." Salim ordered his voice firm but compassionate. "The baby is coming and I need you to stop or you will damage yourself."

"Push. Don't push. Jesus!" she said leaning against Riddick.

"Jack, look at me." Riddick said looking at her from the side. "Come on, look at my face."

His eyes were sharp and looked at the vid screen across the room. There was another pain coming and he knew that she'd be able to have a rest. One more time. That's what Salim's eyes told him.

"I'm so tired Riddick. So god damn tired." she said her face and hair wet from the exertion.

He had never seen her so brave, so strong, and his heart wanted to burst because of it. So matter how long he would be with her he would never feel so proud.

"Oh god, not again. Riddick!" she said grabbing his forearms. He leaned forward to give her traction and held her behind her knees.

"Jack, this is the last one. Count." And Anne and Kalifa, readying the warmer stood so full of emotion that they couldn't speak.

One…Two…Three.

"It burns!" but Jack refused to stop. She screamed and fell limp as the baby's body flowed out of her in a whoosh of fluid.

"Well, Allah be praised another healthy child." Salim said and Riddick looked at the baby who's cries were loud and full of life.

"Jack?" Riddick asked his throat dry and pained from the emotion he felt. "Jack!"

Her body was limp and her face slack. "Sasha what the fuck!"

Anne came with a sterile blanket as Riddick leaned back cradling Jack unconscious body in his arms. "Riddick, she's passed out.The birthwas very difficult, Anne give Kalifa the ampoule on the tray marked number 5."

"Is she gonna be all right?" he asked his voice a little panicked. But no one said anything to him about that.

_God be all right. Please be all right._

"Her blood pressure is a little low. But she just went through a very traumatic experience. Break it under her nose."

He did and she woke with a start. "Hey little momma." He purred in her ear. "Welcome back, you kinda passed out there."

"Well, wouldn't you?" she smirked. She had a point. He didn't think he could have gone through with it.

Everyone was silent for a few moments when Salim had finished helping pass what was left they heard the lusty cries of their son. "Oh my God is that him?"

Riddick was dying to go over there and look at him. Jack sensed it and let him, while Salim dutifully cleaned the dressing around her. He did not speak but beamed like a proud grandpa. Anne came over and placed a blanket on her and helped her sit up.

"Jack?" Riddick said gawking at the little legs flailing in the incubator. "Got a set of huge balls. Knew he took after me."

The laughter was so loud and unrestrained that no one could help the jovial atmosphere.

"Riddick you are so gross." She smirked as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Damn. How much does he weigh Sasha?"

"5 pounds, 11 ounces and 19 inches long. Good size for nearly a month early." She told him as Jack watched Anne swaddle him and give him to his father.

"Hey kid." He cooed looking at the little face crying like the world had just got a whole lot bigger.

The low gruff rumble of his voice immediately soothed him and his eyes opened and looked up at him. "He knows me, how fucken cool is that?"

"Very cool." Jack said watching him cradle him, tears streaming down her face.

"Wanna go see Mommy?" he asked rubbing his nose against his son's. "Come on, let's see who you've been beating the hell out of for the last month or so."

He walked over and the smile on his face was so big that his rough, mean looking scowl would never be the same. "This," he said kissing Jack's forehead. "is your mom."

He handed Jack the bundle, a tiny boy wrapped in a white sterile blanket. "Oh hey. I'm your mom and that big mean guy with the silver eyes is your dad. And that beautiful lady with the blonde hair is Auntie Anne and the skinny guy," she pointed over to Kalifa and Salim, "is uncle Kalifa and Baba Salim."

Riddick sat next to her and the others kissed her cheek and departed, leaving the new family to their own, tears flowing freely. As the others left the med lab, Sasha dimmed the lights to thirty percent, and allowed Riddick to remove his goggles for good.

"Jack, I thought when I realized how I felt about you that I loved you but man, not like this. I love you so much," he said laughing when his son's yawn stopped him mid sentence.

"Little guy's tired." she told him.

"Mommy looks tired too, how are you feeling?" he asked rubbing her cheek with his fingers.

"I'll be all right. Little guy needs a name. I've got an idea, but I'm not sure how you'd really take it." she said looking at him hopefully.

"Fly it by me princess." He said rubbing his rough finger against his sons cheek and smiling when the baby rubbed back.

"Layne. Its the male form of your mother's name." She told him and his face was her answer.

He was so affected by her request that he couldn't speak for a few moments. He kissed her so tenderly that she could feel his eyes wet with tears against her cheek. "Man Jack, damn. I think she would have loved that. Hey Layne, that's your name. Layne Riddick."

His parents names said aloud together made the time slow and their intimacy more profound. On the view screen, Sasha typed Layne Riddick, born to Richard B. Riddick and Jack Riddick, 5 pounds, 11 ounces, race, Furyan. Birthplace, Crab Nebula, Meterora system. 3 October 2159.

They heard a cough, from the speakers above them and Sasha spoke, "Don't mean to interrupt but Layne needs his rest. He needs some monitoring so kisses now and let mom and dad get some time to clean up."

"Sure Doc," Riddick laughed and kissed both mom and baby lifting him to the warmer.

"That's one healthy child Riddick." She told him as he placed him in the incubator.

"Thanks. Gonna walk Mom to a nice hot shower." He said walking over to Jack, who had fallen asleep. "or maybe not."

The computer said nothing and he walked to the mess where Kalifa, Salim and Anne sat with their heads bowed in prayer.

"My brother. Blessings." Kalifa said slapping him on the back.

"Thanks Kal," he said sitting down. Anne brought him a steaming hot cup of coffee and Salim beamed like a man who's life had found new meaning.

"So," Salim said slamming his fist triumphantly. "What a strapping boy! Strong."

Riddick's grin was so wide he couldn't stop smiling. "Couldn't be any other way. We named him. Layne, after my mother. It was Jack's idea."

"It's a fine name my son. A very strong name, tradition is important." Salim told him. "I have checked and we should reach Talos Prime in two days. Then Talos 4 in 8 days."

"Good. I want to be ready when Toombs makes a visit. It's time to end this for good. Now," he told them his face suddenly serious. "I've spent my whole life getting fucked over and over by the system, by rent a cops who found me a meal ticket. I made the mistake of going back once, and I ain't doing it again. I've never counted on anyone in my life, cept for Jack, and that took a long time."

He put his face in his hands and rubbed them, weary but resolute. "I've never asked any body for help before but I need you. All of you to see us through this. Jack and me never had much use for family, but here we are. Like I told her before, we're all we got. It's gonna take all of us to throw off these bastards for good. You in?"

"Yes." Anne said eagerly.

"I wouldn't be anywhere else." Kalifa offered smiling a toothy grin

"My place is with my children, all of them," Salim told him placing his old weathered hand on his forearm. "including you my son."

"Good." Riddick answered and felt more relieved than he had been in days. "Now Anne, could you stitch my cheek now? Jack's taking a nap."

"No problem, let me get my bag." She said hopping off the chair and almost skipping back to the med lab.


	54. Dr Janis dodges a bullet

**To all my favorites, and those who review just try and deciper the message Janis sends...**

**Sista SITA wuv ewe too.**

**Rose: look for the quippy quote to make your day. See if it's the one I think it is.**

**To all, thanks for sticking by me. Yes, Toombs is an ass but hey, we all can't be Jack, oh wait, I am a Jack. Lucky me....**

* * *

Toombs stood on the deck of the bridge thinking over his options. On the one hand, Janis had never given him the slightest hint of her disloyalty, and with his track record with crews had never been the greatest, he wondered. 

Did she warn them? Could she warn them? If she did could he use that to his advantage? Or was he just fucken paranoid?

Everyone was sitting in the mess, all five of them, including Roper, who had quickly became his "right hand man."

"Now here's how it's gonna play. I'm gonna ask the questions, if I don't get the answers I want, then I'm gonna be the bad cop, to your good cop. She likes you better anyway." He said to Roper who set the auto pilot and got up off the pilot's chair. "Fucken Arabic crap."

"Doc, we need you to come to the mess." Roper had asked sweetly.

"Sure Danny give me a minute." Janis said typing on her keyboard and hitting send.

The message read and in English:

**M**y d**e**a**r** **c**hildren,

I hope all i**s** well wit**h **you. **I** can only ho**p**e that your days **a**re filled **w**ith brightness **a**nd you**r** h**e**ar**t**s **a**re fil**l**ed with j**o**y. My thought**s** are with you in your lowest times. I look forwar**d **to seeing both very soon. Once this job is done I sh**a**ll join you a**n**d see the suns set. But for now, please take **g**r**e**at ca**r**e and _keep_ yourselves _safe_ from harm. Take good care of my _baby_ grandson, his life is precious. _Nothing is more important_.

I hear t**he** wi**l**d animals near your home are kee**p**ing you worrisome_. It would_ do **you** good to **s**ee that you attack them rather than _be attacked_. But that is men's w**o**rk and n**o**thing I ca**n** help with.

I a**m** doing m**y** best to stay **c**alm and await y**o**ur message letting me know you are **ver**y well. **Un**til we see one another again, I love you. **Do **write soo**n**.

Your moth**e**r.

When Janis arrived in the mess she could feel that everyone's eyes were on her. there was a chair in the middle of the floor and Toombs was smugly leaning against the door.

"Hey Doc. So glad you could join us."

* * *

Jack showered for at least 30 minutes when she woke up. The water felt good and she knew that the sweat from childbirth was horrible to smell. Riddick helped her up once she woke up, some four hours later, and helped her to their rooms. 

She felt energized by the vigorous spray kneading her sore leg and back muscles and the hot water definitely helped get her milk to start running. Layne would be hungry no doubt and when she heard a banging on the door she figured her time was up.

"Hey? You okay in there?" a gruff shout came from the other side. She quickly dressed, adjusting her flattened stomach into a pair of jeans and her favorite pre baby black shirt and put her hair up as quickly as she could.

"Yup. Damn fine shower." She said smiling. Riddick looked down at her. He looked back up and shook his head.

It was like she was never pregnant, except of course for the larger than usual size of her breasts. "Nice rack Jack."

She rolled her eyes. "Why thank you, on tap 24/7."

He wiggled his eyes. "None for you big boy, this is not for you."

He pouted.

She laughed as he grabbed her ass and walked next to her. "Back to normal are we?"

"I was never normal princess. You look good for giving birth four hours ago. A little pudgy but I can live with that. Sasha says you'll be out of commission for a while."

"I am not pudgy." She contended.

"Let me rephrase that. Slightly, softer than usual." He said looking at her up and down.

"Two weeks according to her databanks on Furyan women, and not a second longer. Got a craving already for meat." She said giving him a knowing smirk.

He growled at that. She smiled even bigger. "You want to make out with me right now, don't you?"

"Every minute of every day man o mine." She said holding his hand.

_God he loved Jack, everything about her. Damn even after childbirth he still wanted to devour her. Her smell even turned him on..._

They could hear Layne screaming his head off from the mess and walked faster until they reached the incubator.

"Hey little man." His mother said as he grabbed her finger. "Someone sounds hungry."

She had taken classes with the other women, and had seen many do it. Taking her son to her breast was something she never pictured herself doing. But surprisingly didn't feel awkward about it, except for the fact that Riddick was not watching, he was staring, a hungry look in his eyes.

"Do you mind?" she asked as his eyes went wide.

"Nope, just enjoying the show. Damn Jack, wish I was a baby right now, so bad…" he purred making her weak at the tone of his voice.

Four hours after having his baby and she was already wanting him in her bed again and inwardly smiled knowing he wanted her there too.

"Riddick!" she said incredulously. "You perv."

"What you got performance anxiety or something? Go on feed my boy." He growled playfully sitting on the bed. "Come on."

She rolled her eyes and picked him up and his lustful cries filled the room as she soothed him with her touch, and her voice. "Sh, little guy, dinner's coming."

Riddick watched with such fascination as Jack took Layne into her arms and allowed him to suckle, calming him immediately.

"He _was _hungry." Riddick said sitting next to her on the bed. "I love you Jack. I never thought anything would be normal in my life, and with you, I'm almost there."

"Almost?" she asked looking at him.

"Yeah." he said and she knew what he meant. Free from Mercs, would be the ultimate reward for his trying to redeem his life.

"Soon baby. Soon." She said kissing him tenderly.

"My boy's got an appetite." He said noticing the aggressiveness of his son as he took the milk.

"Just like dear old dad." She quipped.

"Remember what happened the last time you made fun of my age?" he remarked kissing her ear lobe.

"Yes, and this is where we ended up." She smirked switching him to the other side.

They laughed and looked down seeing that Layne had fallen asleep. She burped him softly and put him back into his warmer and adjusted the specialty undergarment she bought just for this particular vocation. He was amazed at how she took to motherhood and smiled a broad grin.

"What?" she asked as she tucked her shirt in.

"Remembering what you looked like after T2. Night and day Jack. Night and day." He purred pulling her into his lap.

"You're bizarre." She told him.

"And you're starving!" he laughed against her torso as he heard her stomach growl.

"I could eat." She told him as they kissed their son on the forehead and walked towards the mess.

"Good evening Riddick." Anne said as she stood in front of the stove. She was reheating the soup that Jack had made, and cutting some of the chicken that nearly went unchecked hours earlier. "Are you hungry?

"Starving." They both said in unison.

"Sit, eat. I know Layne was certainly hungry. Is he asleep now?" she asked handing Riddick a plate.

"Little guy ate like a man and went right back to sleep." Jack told her enjoying food like she hadn't eaten in days.

"You look wonderful Jack, I am amazed at how you have recovered." Anne told her sitting down beside her.

"Thanks. I feel good. Not too sore." She said remembering that Furyan DNA would allow her to heal and recover faster.

"He has your eyes Jack." Kalifa told them as he walked in smiling. "He was awake and as quiet and content as you please."

"He does?" she asked, smiling as she drank some water.

"And Riddick's skin. Smooth and clear." He said as everyone laughed hysterically. "Hey, I mean that in a clearly non homosexual, just noticing another man's attractiveness kind of a thing."

"Right Kal, never knew that about myself but hey, whatever floats your boat." Riddick told him winking.

Kalifa paled at the big man's remark. "Kalifa?" Jack said breaking him out of his stupor. "Hey, he's fucking with you."

He laughed nervously. He wasn't sure if she was telling him the truth until Riddick broke out into a deep unrestrained chuckle. "Yeah Kal, I'm fucking with you. Actually, he has lighter skin than me, a bit of both of us."

"You _do_ have one thing in common, BALD heads." Kalifa offered trying to salvage his dignity.

That bought him another roar from Riddick. "Needs baby goggles. Gotta find me some when we land on Talos Prime." He joked.

"Speaking of gifts." Salim said walking with a hand made bassinet. "Many blessings from Allah Riddick and Jack."

Her eyes misted up as Anne and Kalifa walked out and quickly returned with theirs. Anne bought Jack a book of stories that she could read out loud, and Kalifa bought them a blanket made from the softest material.

"Guys!" she said misty. "Shit. You shouldn't have."

"Layne needs a place to sleep Jack, and that warmer is not going to do for long." Salim said smiling. "As his Baba Salim, I must insist."

"You knew!" she said glaring playfully at Riddick.

His not so innocent smirk gave her a laugh and he pulled her into his lap. "Well," she asked, "do you have something for me?"

"In private princess and NOT before." He said smiling giving her a wink.

In private indeed…

* * *

"What's going on?" Janis asked as Roper stood by the door. 

"We gotta know something Doc. Who do you think you are tipping of our mark that we're coming after them?"

"What are you talking about?" she said suddenly on the spot.

"Have a seat Dr. Janis." Roper told her as the crew watched as she took her seat.

"I'm no hacker Doc but something about your message to your "kids" smelled funny. So spill it. What did you actually say, in ENGLISH." He snapped raising his voice.

"First of all, I don't even know who you mean, second, my children are on a planet in the Aquilian system safe from those same bastards on Hellion Prime who broker in flesh instead of Light and Energy like they should. So, I got them off that hell hole so they could have my grandchild in freedom. So, don't mind me if I ask you to kiss my ass and say I don't have to tell you anything."

If her voice didn't betray her, her body language made Toombs wonder. "Quit your jaw jackin sweetheart and spill it or I swear I'll knock the shit out of you."

"Would you like to see a translation, Harold?" she said as he stalked her walking around the chair menacingly.

The others sniggered at hearing his first name and he glared at them daring them to fuck with him.

"Actually that wouldn't be a bad idea. Roper, you pulled the last transmission Dear ole Doc sent didn't you?"

"I did Harold." He said emphasizing _Harold_ to make him seem feminine.

Through his teeth he asked her to read it completely unaware of the embedded message. She had gotten more careful and needed to make sure in case she was discovered that no one would be able to find out. _Thank Allah,_ she thought,_ for Jack._

"_My dear children,_

_I hope all is well with you. I can only hope that your days are filled with brightness and your hearts are filled with joy. My thoughts are with you in your lowest times. I look forward to seeing both very soon. Once this job is done I shall join you and see the suns set. But for now, please take great care and keep yourselves safe from harm. Take good care of my baby grandson, his life is precious. Nothing is more important._

_I hear the wild animals near your home are keeping you worrisome. It would do you good to see that you attack them rather than be attacked. But that is men's work and nothing I can help with._

_I am doing my best to stay calm and await your message letting me know you are very well. Until we see one another again, I love you. Do write soon._

_Your mother."_

"There are you happy now?" she glared looking directly at Toombs who felt the fool all of a sudden.

Roper looked at him with a shrug, "I'm convinced, how about you guys?"

The murmurs from the rest of the crew made Toombs furious. They couldn't help their way out of a paper bag.

"Out!" he told everyone feeling very stupid. What was he thinking? She showed interest, she was a good person, she didn't care about their bounty, she just wanted to do her job and get to her kids. Damn he was going soft.

Everyone filed out and he was left alone staring at her. "When you've been through as many crews as I have, havin them stab you or dick you over so many god damn times, you can never be too careful."

"You Harold are an ass, and I don't want to talk to you right now. If you ever accuse me of tampering with this mission again, you had better watch you eat, you may find it poisoned." She snapped walking passed him and down to the lab.

"Well ride me hard and put me up wet." He said looking at her ass. Damn is she didn't have balls.

Inside she was shaking like a leaf. When she reached the privacy of her quarters she walked to the toilet, closed the door and vomited anything left in her stomach.


	55. Cadeaux pour Jack

On five separate surfaces Jack had placed lightly scented candles, in her favorite fragrance. Besides feeling very relaxed because of them, her room smelled like her room back on Hellion Prime and made her body and mind reject any stress from the birth, the escape from New Mecca and their mad dash across the universe.

The very subtle fragrance helped her, when Riddick walked down the hall he remembered what Salim had said. Jack was a creature of routine and ritual. It gave her a sense of normalcy that others didn't understand.

He smiled watching her from the doorway. His eyes watched her, still radiantly beautiful in the wash of natural light, thanking Imam's god again for looking at him kindly. _Never had much use for you, but I'm not gonna say shit when this happens. _

Jack pulled out her most comfortable pair of pajama bottoms and a tank top she could wear over her bra and stretched. Her muscles were sore and she looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. Flab was definitely everywhere. She adjusted her breasts and he suppressed a laugh watching her move to look at her profile and back to the front rolling her eyes and giggling herself.

"Two weeks Jack and it's back to training." She told herself. Sasha had told her that her residual flow would stop by then and she'd be able to give her something to prevent further pregnancies if she desired to only have once child for the present.

She would bring that up at the appropriate time but she figured Riddick wouldn't want her pregnant every time they got around to actually enjoying themselves.

"You look fine kid." A voice came from behind her.

"So glad you think so." She told the voice as it came up closer. "Missed you."

"Ain't goin nowhere." He growled slowly putting his arms around her waist and pulling her back against him biting her ear lobe. "Stuck with me, officially for good."

"Heard something about that, but at the time I was screaming my brains out. Refresh my memory." She said as he pulled her to the couch.

"House." He said kissing her neck, "garden," he said nipping her jaw, "beach." He finished kissing her hungry lips. "For the rest of your life."

"Mmm." She moaned against his lips. "Now I remember."

"Bet you do." He said pressing up against her as she straddled him. Her eyes went wide and she smiled.

"Well, hello." She said running her hands up and down his shoulders. "_He_ missed me."

"That he did." He growled as he kissed her neck. "A lot."

"Maybe I can help you with that."

"I _know_ you can help me with that." He quipped back at her purring in her ear.

She laughed as he ran his fingers through her hair and pulled her head back. "Jack, I love you."

"Heard that." She quipped whimpering. Even after giving birth her appetite for him had not diminished. Smelling her new scent, her arousal he took full advantage of that fact by teasing her but ended up teasing himself in the bargain.

He groaned as she leaned against him. "Jack…" _I miss you so much…_

"You're torturing yourself you know. I'm sorry for being on the bench for two weeks." She told him smiling smugly.

"Can't help it. You're too tempting." He crooned smiling in the dim light, his eyes glistening into hers. "Smell good enough to eat. Sugary…"

After a few moments of touching and nuzzling she leaned up and began petting him. She knew he was tired, his workout, the birth, he'd been up almost twenty four hours.

"So." She said caressing his face, his neck, and rubbing his temples.

"Mmm., so." He said leaning his head back enjoying her petting him.

"Where's my present?" she asked like a kid at Christmas time.

"Oh that." He said smugly. His lips never left her neck once he started kissing her again and spoke, punctuating each word with a kiss, while placing both his hands on her perfect cheeks. "Well, if you must now, I have something very special for you. But, you need to uh, move."

"Don't want to." She pouted. She like having his hands on her. She liked it very much.

"Jack." He warned playfully. _Your ass is driving me insane baby and your scent, damn I could eat you alive…_

"If I have to." She said smiling. He rose and walked to his wardrobe and opened one of the drawers.

She sat on the couch with her knees up and waited holding one of her pillows. "Whatcha got there Captain Riddick?"

He liked the sound of that. Captain Riddick, it almost sounded normal…

"Present for my wife." _Wife. _he thought to himself. _God, I didn't see any of this coming…_

_But I wouldn't have it any other way now._

"Really…" Jack told him as he brought out four small black satin boxes.

"First, this is because you were the only one who believed in me." he said handing her the first long box.

_And because you love me, the animal, the murderer, the convict, everything._

Her eyes lit up when she saw it. It was a new necklace, an intricate silver chain with a tiny silver key on it. "What's the key for?"

"It unlocked this." He said taking her hand and placing it on his heart.

She began to cry as he put it on her neck. "Now, Jack, baby if you're gonna cry every time I give you a gift, we're gonna stop cause you with a plugged up nose is NOT pretty." He quipped.

"Ass." She smirked back.

"Yes, you have a lovely one. But moving on." He said handing her the second small box. "This is what I promised. But Jack, it means nothing, everything I need is right here." He said taking his knuckles and running them against her heart.

Tears threatened and he put his finger up and said, "Uh huh. No Jack."

She sniffed and dried her face smoothing her hair. "OK."

She opened the box, and a ring, crusted with beautiful white and amber diamonds sat in her hand. "Salim said women are entitled to something beautiful and personal when they give their lives up for a man."

"He did, did he?" she said as he slipped it on. It fit on her middle finger, the one he intended it to stay on.

"Furyan women wear it there." He said smiling. He leaned over the discarded boxes and hungrily devoured her lips growling when her hand roamed to his abduct muscles. "I love you Jack. You were already mine, didn't need this to make it real."

"I know. It's beautiful. You're such a softy. But don't worry, I won't tell anyone, it'll be our secret."

"Good. Now, this is a two part gift and has nothing to do with having Layne." He said pulling her into his lap. Her smirk when she sat down made him smug and cocky, in every sense of the word.

The next gift was a shiv, shiny and perfect in design. "After this last little run in, I wanted to make sure you had something useful to defend yourself with. In two weeks, when you're strong and Doc says you can, it's back to training, got it?"

"Absolutely." She said feeling it in her hand. "You made this?"

"Yeah." He said looking at her his silver eyes smiling.

"I love it. Thank you." she answered pecking his cheek.

"Now, onto my favorite gift. Took me a while to find this. But that's what I like about New London, lots of old places to find that, one of a kind present."

"It's a book." She said confused. "It's an old book."

"Yes." He answered her. "It's my favorite."

"You read?" she asked sarcastically, "do tell."

He smacked her ass and smiled. "Ow." She said pouting. He rubbed where his hand just smacked making her growl in satisfaction, something she knew turned him on.

"Moving on." He quipped. "This book is called The Count of Monte Cristo. It is written in 1851 on old Earth by a French guy. It's about an escaped convict."

She smiled. He started to rub her back, absentmindedly as he spoke leaning against her ample bosom when he talked inhaling the scent of baby, milk and essence de Jack.

_All my favorite flavors_ his beast purred.

The sound was like music to her ears. His low rumble always gave her goose bumps and this was no exception. "He returns to seek revenge on those who put him there. He gets everybody in the end. You see, when he was young, he was in love with a girl named Mercedes. His best friend dicks him over cause he wants the girl and gets him framed for murder. Then he gets thrown into a slam where he never saw daylight. Yeah, that was a surprise too. He breaks out and goes all over the world traveling getting ready to get his revenge. In his travels, he saves a Persian Princess named Haydee. He takes each of the bastards that put him in jail down, one at a time. All the while, his Persian Princess, sticking by him, never lets him down, and completely trusted him all the while secretly in love with him. Once his revenge is complete he sails off into the distance with…."

"Mercedes?" she asked leafing through the book, it's leather cover soft to the touch. "You'd think after all those years he'd pick up where he left off."

"Jack…" he purred into her chest as he nuzzled it.

"Am I your Mercedes?" she asked closing the book and resting her head on his shoulder.

"No, you're my Haydee."

* * *

It was after midnight when Riddick woke up. Jack was gone and the bed felt odd without her in it. She'd left two candles lit bathing their bedroom in a dim amber light. He sat up, ran a hand over his face and wondered where she was.

Dressed in sweats and one of his white tanks he got up and looked around their quarters. She wasn't there.

He started to worry when he heard her coming towards them, smelled her too. She had the baby with her, he knew it. He couldn't get enough of her, her smell, the way she sounded when she walked and how she felt. "Sh. I just got him to sleep." She told him smiling. He noticed that Layne had a fist full of her hair and kept it close to his face.

_That's my boy, know where the good stuff is._

She stepped up onto the platform and placed him down between them and slipped under the covers. She sighed as she laid back down, resting on her side. He followed suit and looked down at the baby they had made together. The perfect little life. The second good thing he could depend on.

"Hey baby." Riddick said looking at her. She was so beautiful.

"Hey." He said kissing her and pulling Layne's fingers freeing her hair.

"Thanks. He was a hungry boy again." she told him pulling the blankets free so his legs kick if they wanted to. They watched his legs stretch and kick both suppressing a smile.

"Bet he was." He whispered kissing Layne's closed fist. "God I love this kid. Best thing I've done in a while. Besides coming back for you."

"So, in your wildest dreams did you ever picture yourself like this?"

In the deep darkness of the night, lit by the natural light of the candles she saw Riddick blush, an honest to goodness blush that rendered her speechless.

"NO!" she whispered to stunned to utter anything else. "When?"

"Not telling." He said running his fingers along Layne's cheek.

"You're no fun." She pouted.

"I have evidence to the contrary princess." He quipped with an evil grin.

She smiled back and winked. "Love you."

"Love you too Jack."

"We're gonna land tomorrow on Talos Prime. Then it's onto Talos 4 and then we'll dig in and make a stand when Toombs and his crew comes to call." He told her putting his hand on hers as she held onto Layne's. "Jack, nobody matters except you two. I'm serious. Love the old man and Kal and Anne, but they don't matter, just you two. When the shit goes down, keep your head down and take care of the little guy. But shit is NOT gonna happen."

"I'm tired of running aren't you?" she asked looking into his eyes and sighing.

"Been running my whole life. Wanna have normal, anyway I can get it." he said his deep baritone voice lulling her to sleep. "Rest Jack, I'm gonna protect you."

"I know. I've always known." She said with her eyes closed and a smile on her face.


	56. Dr Janis' message recieved

PLOT BUNNIES ARE after me.....

* * *

The following day, Jack dressed in her favorite clothes, her black jeans, her button down pink sweater, and mechanic's boots. Riddick laughed as they dressed that morning telling her that she looked like that licorice candy Good and Plenty's that he got when he was a kid at Halloween.

He felt in good spirits and had since Layne had been born due mainly to the fact that he watched the little guy sleep between them and was so content that he had suggested that after they arrived on Talos Prime that he would move in with them permanently. Sasha didn't have a problem with it, allowed Jack to inject him with vaccinations against disease and pronounced him fit as a four day old could be.

Jack was sitting in the mess, having breakfast, when she accessed her laptop. Riddick had already was up on the bridge, making the calculations for landing on Talos Prime when a message came in on her coded channel.

Anne was sitting opposite her and stared as her eyes went wide and Jack furiously began hitting the keys.

"Jack? What's wrong?" Anne asked as she watched her face go pale. "Jack?"

Jack didn't answer her only ran out of the room towards the bridge.

Anne swung around to Jack's email and saw the encoded message decoded in its rough form:

**M**y d**e**a**r** **c**hildren,

I hope all i**s** well wit**h **you. **I** can only ho**p**e that your days **a**re filled **w**ith brightness **a**nd you**r** h**e**ar**t**s **a**re fil**l**ed with j**o**y. My thought**s** are with you in your lowest times. I look forwar**d **to seeing both very soon. Once this job is done I sh**a**ll join you a**n**d see the suns set. But for now, please take **g**r**e**at ca**r**e and _keep_ yourselves _safe_ from harm. Take good care of my _baby_ grandson, his life is precious. _Nothing is more important_.

I hear t**he** wi**l**d animals near your home are kee**p**ing you worrisome_. It would_ do **you** good to **s**ee that you attack them rather than _be attacked_. But that is men's w**o**rk and n**o**thing I ca**n** help with.

I a**m** doing m**y** best to stay **c**alm and await y**o**ur message letting me know you are **ver**y well. **Un**til we see one another again, I love you. **Do **write soo**n**.

Your moth**e**r.

**MERC SHIP AWARE**

**TALOS DANGER**

**HELP YOU SOON MY COVER UNDONE**

**KEEP BABY SAFE **

**NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT**

**IT WOULD BE ATTACKED**

"KALIFA!" she shouted and ran towards the gym where he and his father were praying.

* * *

"We can't land." Jack said panting heavily. "It's a trap."

"Jack, what the hell are you talking about?" Riddick asked getting up. She was bent over and holding her side. She kept pointing towards the mess and motioning him to follow.

"Come quick." She told him as he jogged along side of her.

Kalifa and Salim stood looking at Jack's laptop and stared back up when Riddick spotted them. Their faces were grave and no one looked happy.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked and went to the screen.

"Got a message from Janis. I haven't checked my mail in days. Now read this and then look lower after I decrypted it." she said pacing. "We're fucked."

He took off his goggles, read the letters carefully and stood back up walking over to the bulkhead.

"Son of a BITCH. GOD DAMN YOU TOOMBS." His voice roared taking a chair and hurling it across the room. "MOTHER FUCKEN SON OF A BITCH. I'M GONNA KILL THAT FUCK!"

He stormed out of the room and down the hall leaving the mess in a fit of unbridled rage. No one dared follow, not even Jack. He needed to calm down first and she knew that better than anyone.

"Anyone got a plan?" she asked sitting back down.

"She'll be expecting an answer Jack." Salim said looking to her for a moment but hearing Jack's voice in the distance.

Everyone except Jack dropped whatever they were doing and looked at the hall.

Riddick had gone to see Layne in the med lab, rage running hot. Salim feared for the child but Jack knew better. The animal would calm down when they were together.

She just knew it.

Salimheard Jack and Riddick's door slam and then the hall was deathly silent. His face was full of worry and he didn't know what to do. But Jack put a calming hand on his arm and slowly walked down the hall.

"Think about what I should say, I'll be back later. And abort the orbiting codes and get out back out into deep space." She told Kalifa who was already on his way to the bridge.

When Jack opened the door, Riddick was on the bed, with Layne on his chest. It was pitch black and she didn't need the light to know they were there. She could smell them. She smelled anger, fear, and the calming scent of the baby.

"Hey." She said softly, quietly approaching.

"Fucking Toombs." Was all she heard growl in the darkness. "Picked the wrong man to_ fuck_ with this time. You think that the mother fucker woulda learned by now."

"Cockroach." She quipped. "Ghost him. Him and his whole fucking crew. Then it's over."

"I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch if he even tries laying a hand on my kid." He snarled in the darkness.

The silence was broken when Layne let out a contented coo. "Can't get enough of that sound. Hmm. Like a baby cub growling. Just the right amount of animal to make me take a step back." He growled low in his chest. The rumbling made Layne rub his face against his chest and Riddick sighed, easing his ire like a waterfall of cool water. "I love this kid Jack. Never thought I would like kids but he's mine and I ain't letting no two bit rent a dick get in my way."

She watched him open his eyes, seeing the silvery shine in the darkness. "Man, I never thought that one little heartbeat could make me feel like this. I do anything for this kid, fucken kill every man I see, if it meant saving him. Doesn't matter who. I'd even die for him to make sure he's free."

_Like your mother. Like your father_ Jack thought her face saddened by the loss of his parents.

"Yeah, like them Jack. You're all the fucking matters. Without you two, it's all shit." he said taking her hand and kissing her palm.

He knew what she was thinking, just as she knew him well enough to soothe him.

"Okay." She said stroking his arm. "What are we gonna do?"

"We're gonna get ready. Make him an offer he can't refuse." He told her in all seriousness.

"Godfather kind of offer?" she asked looking at him trying not to smile. That movie trilogy had become his favorite lately.

"Riddick style." He said in a low menacing growl.

"Good, count me in." she said leaning over and kissing his forehead. "Let the bastard try and see where that gets him."


	57. Jack hatches a plan

Dear beloved **m**other,

It i**s** **g**ood to _know_ that _you_ have found such employment that allows you to escape the se**r**vitude of New Me**c**ca. I hope that all is well with you an**d** that Allah blesses you with se**r**enity and peace. Kasim and I _are_ well, little Ali was born almost a week ago and is_ in_ good spirits. He takes after his father and baba is pro**u**d that he is a **s**on.

_D_o not worry about the wolves. K**a**sim and I h_a_ve a plan to rid our home of unwa_n_ted do_g_s and will se_e_ it through. Be assu_r_ed our present plan being ineffective, we will seek a di**f**f**e**rent route to rid our**se**lv**e**s of these unwanted pests. **K**asim wishes to deal with the**m** dir**e**ctly but I favor a diff**e**ren**t **approach. Bu**t a**s I shou**l**d, as Allah c**o**mmand**s**, I will defer to my husband.

Take care of yourself and be good, work hard and kee**p** in touch.

You**r** Daughter

"Okay, what else should we say or should we wait for a reply?" Jack asked as Anne rocked Layne to sleep in the mess.

Riddick paced behind her. He knew Talos Prime pretty well and had been quiet. "Let me see the encrypted parts."

**MSG RCD R U SAFE**

**SEEK MEET TALOS PR**

**KNOW YOU ARE IN DANGER**

He read the words across the screen and said, kissing the top of her head. "Send it. Then we wait."

* * *

"Hey fancy pants." Toombs said coming into Janis' quarters.

"What do you want?" she asked gruffly not looking up from the sutures she was giving Roper because he hit his head on a panel he was accessing.

"You done?" he snapped looking at Roper who's forehead sported twelve stitches at the hairline.

"Just. What is the nature of your medical emergency outside of the fact you're an ass?" she asked pulling the rubber gloves off.

Roper shot Toombs a look and smirked walking off.

"Got a message from that kid of yours. Just came in on an unguarded channel." He told her beginning to come towards her.

"Thank you Harold, please patch it in." she said coldly.

"You don't have to be like that Janis. I'm fucking sorry already." He told her looking at his feet.

She knew men better than anyone. She'd let him stew for a while. "When was the last time you trusted _anybody_ ?"

"Never have." He admitted rubbing his face.

"Try it sometime, some people actually go thought this life doin it and do just fine. I miss my kids. You got that? I have a life, this is just another payday for me. GET THAT?"

She had her hands at her sides and wanted nothing more than to take that scalpel on the table and run it through him. But she smiled. "Sorry. Just hate getting threatened. My husband, thank Allah he's dead now, used to do that. So please excuse my testiness."

He looked at her and walked out. _Damn I'm good._ She told herself as the message was patched through.

**MSG RCD R U SAFE… SEEK MEET TALOS PR…KNOW YOU ARE IN DANGER**

She sighed and typed the reply smiling the whole time.

Deares**t **Children,

**Al**lah be praised. I'd h**o**ped_ my_ message**s** were received. IT lo**ok**s **s**o much diff**e**re**n**t up in the stars. Allah is merciful. I _c_ann_o_t wait to hear from you.

It was _ver_y good to hear that you are well.

My captain was anxious to get our mission starte**d** and I was glad to see him pleased. I will await your next message with enthu_s_i_a_sm. **Lo**_ok_ a_f_t_e_r my grand**c**hild and kiss him for me.

Love your mother

* * *

Jack sat on the couch in her room with Layne sleeping in his bassinet a few feet away. She had spent the morning in the med lab asking Sasha questions and going over in her head the plan that had been formulating

Riddick came in after setting the auto pilot to cruise and smiled when she had her mind elsewhere. He loved creeping up on her. "Don't even think about it." she said leaning against the dresser her back to him.

"You're getting good at sensing me. That's my girl." He said coming up behind him. "How's little guy?"

"Full and changed." She announced. "I need to know something. What is your plan for Toombs? I've got something cooking and I want to run it by you first. It's a ballsy scheme and it'll keep his ass off us for the rest of our lives."

He smiled an evil grin and sat down patting the hard muscular thigh his hand laid on. "No."

His eyebrow cocked inquisitively. "No?" he purred smiling.

"Once I'm in that lap I can't think straight."

He went to laugh loudly when she ran over and put her hands to his lips. "I just got him to sleep."

"Sorry." He said kissing her fingers. "There's a message on your screen."

"Let me get that." She said as he stared at her perfect backside. "And stop staring at my ass."

He did laugh then, a quiet chuckle that made her smile. "Janis replied. Good. Let me decrypt it."

**TALOS OK SEND LOC**

**COVER OK SAFE**

"Well that's a relief." Jack said sitting back.

"So, tell me what's your idea?" He said rubbing her back with his hand. She'd been stretching again and he knew she was sore.

"Okay, but there are a lot of factors. First tell me about Toombs, everything you know." She asked sitting next to him and playing with his pant leg.

"He's an asshole." He started.

"Language Riddick." She chided pointing to the baby.

"You've got to be kidding Jack." He said throwing her a look. _She didn't just say that shit to me._

"No. Eventually he'll end up sounding like you." she said with a smirk.

"That's my boy." He quipped smiling at her his sarcastic smirk saying, I dare you to fuck with me now…

"His creed is greed. He likes the big bounties. He can't keep a crew together. They end up trying to kill him half the time. He comes light, that's always a mistake. And he's a cocky son of a bitch." He told her and she started taking notes.

"Good, just what I expected." She replied kissing him on the cheek. "So, here's what I think. Knowing him the way you do, would you put it passed him to ask for half the bounty to be paid, if he were to capture you and me and be able to prove it, and get the other half on delivery?"

Riddick sat back and closed his eyes, rubbing his face with his hand. That was exactly something Toombs would pull.

"Yeah." He liked the way she was thinking. He could see something forming.

Damn he was proud as hell of her…

"And," she said with a shit eating grin on her face. "If I could jack into his computer system, down load his video logs, bet they're all self absorbed monologues about how good he is, pick out his best dialog and feed it into Sasha, so she could _become_ Toombs, contact his "private party" and get them to send the money to a coded bank account on Talos Prime, what do you think would happen to him if his backers found out he didn't actually have us?"

"They'd skin his ass alive, or worse." He said grinning a toothy shit eating grin. _Baby you've got something… I was just gonna kill him, but this… this shit is way better._

"Send mercs to find him and bring him back to get back the money."

"A victim of his own creed. Jack that's fucken brilliant."

"Why thank you." she said bowing. "One, we get half the bounty, and take the money out as soon as it hits, giving us mad cash, a whole lot of mad cash we run, find a nice planet to settle down on and start that life we wanted. You could get a job, I could be a gardener and have a…."

He smiled. He like when she thought about their lives together like that. Her eyes looked hopeful and he loved her so deeply for having him part of her dreams.

"Jack? Focus. The plan?" he said smirking.

"Yeah, besides the little love nest on the beach we can two, not only humiliate him so he couldn't ever get another job again, but keep him running so he never sits for more than a day ANYWHERE. Thereby, getting them off our tail for good."

His large rough hands grabbed her and pulled her into his lap where he kissed her so passionately a minute later they were gasping. "I knew there was a reason why I loved you."

"And here I thought it was for my damn fine ass." She said rubbing it against his thighs.

"6 days Jack and not a second more."

"Well." She stammered. "That was a thank you."

"Now, the point is, how do we hack his computer? It's a moving ship."

"Every ship has a frequency, all I need is a code and the numbers. Leave that to me and Janis. Now help me write a reply. Where can she meet us?"

She sat at the keyboard and discussed with Riddick where she could meet them. After a few minutes, she began to type:

Dear **Be**loved Mother,

K**a**sim knows **t**hat a trap is best to lure **the** wolves from the forest. My **h**ope i**s t**o catch them one at a time to ensu**re** succ**e**ss. **T**he **b**esttime to c**a**tch them is at _dusk._

We miss you and hope that you'**r**e journey is not too long. _When_ your time with your friends has ended, we have prepared a room for you that overlooks the garden where the smell of jasmine is in the air.

Ali looks like his baba and is the sparkle in Kasim's eye. All our love and prayers to you.

All be praised you are well. _How long before we see you_ our hearts are full with love for you.

Your daughter.

"Tell me the message baby. You amaze me with this stuff." Riddick said as she finished typing.

**BE AT THE H STREET BAR**

**WHEN DUSK**

**HOW LONG BEFORE WE SEE YOU**

"Good." He said smiling. "Send it and then we'll work on you jacking into their mainframe when we know how much time we have."

* * *

Harold Toombs never spent one second in his life trying to figure out women. He paid for them, did had his fun and went on with the next thing on his list. Janis, made him think about things.

"Hey, you in there boss?" Roper asked sitting in the navigator's chair.

"Yeah, fucken women, can't even imagine what it's like inside their fucken heads."

"You hot for the Doc Harold?" he quipped and found himself with a hand around his throat.

"You ever call me that again asshole and I swear you'll be finding yourself on the outside of this very cold ship." He told him looking at him with a glare of death on his face.

"OK." He squeaked and Toombs dropped him.

The incoming message alert came in and Roper resumed his post in front of the computer and said, "It's for the Doc. Man it must be nice to have kids."

"Fucken hate kids, brats." He told him walking to the com link. "Hey Doc."

"Yes?" a sultry female voice said,

"Check the computer your kid sent another message." He said switching it off.

But not before Roper got a look at how he reacted to Janis' voice. _Oh yeah, he's hot for her, and bad._

When Janis downloaded the latest message she laughed and read the decrypted the encoded transmission she smiled.

She replied and knew that Jack was waiting.

Dearest Daughter,

My heart soars _w_ith th_e _thoughts of s_e_eing you _three_ again. _K_now My love for you Ka_s_im and Al**i** has no bounds. **M**r. Toombs and his c**re**w h**a**ve been very thorough in **d**ealing with our mission and have neglected nothing. I see to their _needs_ as best I can and feel that I am fulfilling m**y **part as part of the crew.

The thoughts of being c**l**os**e t**o the garden is something I surely **m**iss, lik**e** it was back w**he**n we were **l**iving with your father on hellion **p**rime. Tho**se **were days I will never relive again.

Be _safe_, kiss Ali a**nd** assu**re** Kasim he is in my thoughts. May Allah bless you with **qu**i**e**t nigh**ts**.

Love

Your mother.

* * *

Jack had gone to get something and left Riddick reading her book on the couch, but covertly he was watching his son sleep, the blissful sleep of the innocent. It was only when her laptop blinked did he perk up.

He decrypted the message and read in bold letters:

**THREE WEEKS…IM READY TO HELP…SEND REQUESTS…**

"Jack, you're on." He said coming into the mess where she had just poured a cup of coffee. "We've got three weeks."

"Okay." She said looking hopeful at him.

* * *

Over dinner Jack told everyone of her plan, the barest of plans, mind you.

"There's a lot that could go wrong. But I think, if I can hack into the biggest mainframes in the Hellion System I can hack a merc ship. We'll need the credit chips everyone's got cause this is gonna take us some time to set up and money. How much have we got?"

They totaled everything, hacked and Riddick's actual earnings and they had about 200,000. They could be on Talos Prime in about a day and Talos 4 a week or so after that.

"Once I have all of their information downloaded we've got maybe a week to spare. I'm gonna need a new laptop, something with BALLS." Jack said and Riddick didn't smile he roared with laughter.

"Balls, this plan has that written all over it. But let me know what you need." He told her. "Next, I need a tranquilizer gun, with darts. That's for Toombs."

"What about the rest of the crew?" Salim asked.

"Expendable." Riddick said in a harsh cold voice.

"Okay." Kalifa said feeling a little better knowing something was actually forming that resembled a plan. "I'm in."

"We need to wait until I get the files I need." Jack said holding Riddick's hand. "I need to make a program that allows me to pretend to be Toombs on vid screen, then I need to find out who his backers are, get them to send us half up front after we show Riddick and I…restrained and ready for transport."

Riddick clenched his hand almost hurting Jack. She pulled her hand away just as he realized his own strength.

"I am NOT going back in chains Jack." He growled. "No fucken way."

"It's just long enough to take some pictures, for the scam baby." She pleaded. He got up and walked out furious.

"We'll work on that." She told everyone who was left at the table.


	58. Toombs and Dr Janis

**I dedicate this to Rose, cause while we have a thing for Riddick, she's got Toombs' number.**

**For those who think that this story is never gonna end, have faith, the end game is drawing neigh, but I may havea sequel just gotta see where we end up.**

**Now, onto the show. Snappy banter and flirting ahead, beware...**

**Rose: This is for you kiddo. Last update today hubby has chess tournie at 7. please review as always.**

**Now everyone please put yourseats and tray tablesinto the upright position, we are approaching Talos Prime.**

* * *

When Jack found Riddick he was punching the heavy bag and covered in sweat. Working out his frustrations was something he was doing more often lately and she knew sometimes he had to be alone.

Being in the slam he was never alone and that always had been a problem for him.

"Need a towel handsome?" she asked looking over at his incredibly gorgeous sweat shined body.

"Only if you're wearing it." he smirked. His powerful arms nailed the bag with the loud thud that always made her wonder how hard it had to be for a man to fall to his knees dead from the deadly form of fighting Riddick used.

"Sorry about before. Snag in 'the plan'." She said apologetically as he took off the tape around his hands.

"Can't do the bit again Jack. You don't understand what it does to me." he said sitting on the bench putting his head in his hands.

_I go insane in seconds and you don't want to see me like that…_

"I can't imagine the terror and claustrophobic fear it raises in you but I can respect that. I saw you when Johns found you after the crash. I watched him taunt you pullin on the bit, you blindfolded and restrained. I remember. It made me mad as hell."

He growled low and painfully as she rubbed his back. "You don't know what mother fuckers do when you're a mummy like that. Fuck with you in ways that make you want to stay an animal."

Her chest tightened, she knew, just knew what he meant and it broke her heart. The utter violation and no way to defend yourself, it was as bad as being drugged back on New Mecca.

"Listen. Don't think about that now. I have some ideas and no one will make you do anything you can't do. Hey, this is me. I won't let anything hurt you. Even if it means finding another way. Come on, Layne should be waking up and it's about time he saw the ship don't you?"

"Yeah, let's go play." He told her taking the towel and wiping his head clean of the sweat and grime.

* * *

Dearest Mother,

**F**i**r**st, Ali has b**e**en so good. **Q**uite **of**ten he lays on **m**y l**a**p w**i**th his deep chocolate brow**n** eyes looking up at me so loving. Allah as certainly blessed Kasim and I with such a child.

He has his **f**athe**r**'s skin, **a**nd chin, **m**y smil**e** a**n**d is growing h**e**althi**e**r every **d**ay. **The** wolves will not bother us on**c**e Kasim and his friends help him with the plan and _wh_en y**o**u are finishe**d **with y_o_ur_ boss_ _Mr. Toombs_ and _your job_ with him _is _ov**e**r, the house **will** always be yours to live with us in.

A _f_rien**d** came to ca**l**l, his name is Maz _I_bn Haben. He a_nd_ his s**o**n** a**re so helpful wi_th_ repairs to our place an**d** he has expressed a desire to h_e_lp Kasi_m_ with the wolves.

One by one they will be caught and after all that, we shall be free of their terror.

Love your daughter.

Jack sat at the laptop and typed and encrypted the message indicating the following:

**FREQ OF MAINFRAME…**

**NEED THE CODE…**

**WILL DLOAD…**

**WHO IS MR TOOMBS BOSS…**

**YOUR JOB IS FIND HIM**

She looked over at the two of the only men in her life that mattered, asleep on the couch. Layne was laying on Riddick's chest, both snoring lightly.

God how she loved them. How could she pull this off? What would she be capable of? She hit the send button and waited.

It wasn't long before she got a reply. After decryption it read.

**FOR LOVE, WILL DO. TELL SALIM THINKING ABOUT HIM.**

* * *

Toombs needed to make a decision. What the hell was he gonna do about the Doc? He liked her, she was really hot, and she seemed to actually treat him like a person.

"Janis?" he asked walking into the mess as she read a medical journal.

"Yes Harold?" she replied making sure she tried to smile. To keep him from turning back into Toombs. She wanted him Harold because it meant he had a human side. So she always used his first name, to keep him off balance.

"How's the kids?" he stammered slightly.

Sipping her coffee, "Good. Hoping we finish up quickly. My grandson isn't getting any younger."

He sat down and tried to engage in conversation but found it very difficult. "Yeah, Riddick's a bad ass but I'll tell ya, he's got a soft spot for the girl."

"How's that?" she asked subtly. Get him to open up. That's what she needed. _Trust me Toombs, that's it. _

"It's a long story, boring if you ask me." he said starting to clam up.

"Want some coffee?" She asked going over to the pot slowly, knowing he was taking a look. "You take it with a little sugar."

"Sugar yeah, got me a sweet tooth." He quipped.

_Banter, well Harold aren't we bold_, she thought.

"I bet you do." She said smiling.

She got a shit eating grin out of that comment.

"Well, Riddick, this son of a bitch spends most of his life in slam, cept for when he was a special ops guy in the military. Fucken amazing pilot, deadly with or without guns. Cold calculating bastard…" he started taking a sip and sighed. "Likes knives, likes to get his hands wet."

Nothing felt as good as good hot coffee..

"And we're gonna go after this guy?" she asked putting her feet up, giving him a nice view of her legs.

"2 million's a big incentive. Consider me motivated…" he smirked. She smacked his boot with her hand since he decided to lean back against the chair.

"Who's the client?" she asked laughing, "I've lived on Hellion Prime for 10 years and don't know anyone with that kind of cash." She asked sipping her cup.

"Private party." He said smugly. "Remember Massacre in New Mecca?"

"That was horrifying. An entire male side of the family was murdered, guards, and some women am I right?"

"That was our boy, trying to 'rescue'," he said using air quotes, "his girlfriend. See, like I said, Dickey boy never was much of a ladies man, someone who paid for the pleasure if you know what I mean."

She rolled her eyes playfully, "Hey, but that was until he met that special little someone. Her name is Audrey, or Jack, depends on who you know. Well, he saved the little sprout on T2 after their transport ship crashed. Only three made it off the planet alive, him, the kid, and holy man. Left them on New Mecca, but not after a tearful, jerkin at your heart strings goodbye. Man, watchin that made me a believer."

"He loves her?" she asked her heart so full, Jack, who did so much for so many found love. It was an answer to prayer.

"Knocked her up and everything. Making his own little psycho fuck family." Toombs quipped. "That's his only weakness. When we first met, I was on the Kubla Khan, a merc ship out of the Lupos 5. Tried to snatch him then. The bounty was 850k, I'd of gotten a good cut too but the bastard got away. Took me years to find his ass again and then when I thought I had him, another merc got his ass, Johns. What a fucken panty waste! Shakin, skin-popping fuck got my mark. Boy was I fucken pissed."

"Then what?" she asked, "Want more?"

He nodded yes and continued to talk for the joy of hearing his own voice. All of what he said she would remember for another time. "Then he went and got his ass ghosted. Can't say I'm sorry to see him go. For a while, I just laid low. That bastard's got nine lives. Then I saw him on New Mecca, giving the kid the speech, to see his face was an exercise in torture. She nailed him good. But hey, that's not what I'm worrying about. That's what I'm gonna use to nail him. Jack and his kid. He wouldn't dare do anything to me if he thought I was gonna hurt them."

That thought made Janis sick inside, and she knew that she had to take drastic measures to ensure that didn't happen.

"So," she said smiling leaning on her elbows letting her dark hair fall towards her face. "who would want them so badly? The Mohammeds? There's no one left except women and children and they're all too frightened to say anything."

"Mahmood Farad. He's the great granddaddy of em all. Leader of the magnificent seven. He didn't like someone coming in and cleaning house under his watch. He's gonna take his time with Riddick. Wanna talk about shiv happy? I'd pay to watch him gut that piece of shit. But the kid, man I'd hate to see history repeating itself." He told her remembering the attempted rape, the beatings, the humiliation. "Ain't right what those fuckers did to her the first time."

"That's why my children are in hiding. After we get this Riddick, I'm gone, I want to spend my remaining years in freedom with them." She told him rising from her chair.

"Good coffee Doc." He said trying to smile.

"Yes, and good conversation." She said a broad inviting grin on her face.

_Well slap my ass and call it a night_. He couldn't remember the last time he actually had a conversation with a woman. that didn't involve, a money transfer and grunting.

An hour later, Dr. Janis needed to get the codes and frequencies for the ship and their current position as soon as possible and the only place she'd get that would be on the bridge.

Under the pretext of checking on Roper's forehead, she carried her black bag towards the main deck.

"Good evening Danny, I thought I'd make a house call." She said warmly smiling as she put her hair up into a makeshift bun.

"Hey Doc." He said adjusting the nav computer.

"How's the forehead?" she asked leaning against the computer console.

"You might wanna be careful with that. It's delicate." He told her blushing at the attention.

"OOPS! What's that screen do anyway?" she asked knowing it was the comms screen.

"That's what holds the frequency comms codes and uplinks our nav computer with any planetary mainframes. It's pretty complicated." He told her as she put on her gloves.

"Someone stupid like me couldn't ever be smart enough to read something like that." She scoffed.

"No it's pretty easy. See here's our frequency setting. And when we reach a planet their mainframe jacks into our computer to help us land with this code. Pretty simple stuff. You can control the entire ship from here. See this, this is the coolest, Toombs has a direct line from his ship to our "private party" calls him once a week letting him know what's going on. But you didn't hear that from me."

Checking his sutures she winked close to his eyes. "You're secret's safe with me. soon you'll be able to dope up and sleep like the rest of them."

"Yeah off to dream land then Talos Prime. Got some great bars on that planet and female company if you know what I mean." He said smiling a satisfied grin.

"Yeah, fun's gonna start in a little over two and half weeks. What's Toombs calling this hot new ship?"

"The F.U.B." he said laughing. "Fuck you bitch."

"Good lord." she said shaking her head putting her gloves in her bag. "Don't hit your head again."

"Sure Doc. Thanks." He replied setting the course.

* * *

Three days after Janis' last transmission Riddick was found pacing the room nervous and irritated. Jack sensed his agitation and approached with caution.

"He won't stop crying Jack. I've done everything." He said ready to pull his eyeballs out.

"Did you check downstairs big guy?" she asked smiling demurely.

"No, but… No Jack. I drawn the line at that." He told her looking at the child like he'd grown a third head.

"Give me my son. Have you ever changed a baby before?" she asked sweetly.

"First kid I've been around." He said gruff and completely mortified.

"I take that as a 'no.' Don't worry it's pretty simple." She told him laughing. He watched her and scrunched up his face for a moment causing her to smile.

"Viola. All better now, Layne stop torturing daddy and tell him mommy got a message from Auntie Janis. We can land on Talos prime now. I know what I need."

* * *

Jack's gonna be the death of me. She loves fucking with me now that Layne's here. It's fun and I love her for it. But damn she's getting good. Gonna have to watch my ass…

"Talos Prime, this is the Flying Dutchman. Requesting clearance to land." I say in a strong booming voice. It's my Captain Riddick at your service ma'am voice.

"Good evening captain, this is Talos Prime. State the nature of your visit." A very sexy woman's voice asks as I throw Jack a look that causes her to shake her head.

Gotta fuck with ya again princess. Just cause I can…

"Great another woman, damn baby you like attract them like bees to honey." She says laughing.

"Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz." I tell Jack before resuming my chat with the tower. "Re-supply refit, and a few days R & R."

"Well, Talos Prime is where you need to be for that Captain. Have a safe landing. Let us know if there's anything you _need."_

"Well_ thank you_ I'll be sure to let you know, _babe_." I say in Jack's favorite low purr/growl just to piss Jack off.

"Sweet thang, you can land on me anytime." She tells me and Jack is rolling on the floor laughing. "Safe trip handsome you're good to slide in on hanger G-1-5."

Man what's it with being married, women are comin on to me like crazy?

Ain't complaining one bit about that. Just seeing the look on Jack's face makes me smile again. I wink and she looks at me trying to keep a straight face.

Nice try princess.

"A regular Don Juan." She says pointing at me. It's funny and I like it when she smiles.

Keeps me thinking we're gonna get out of this without a scratch. I land as slick as Jack's ass in the shower and move to go secure the landing gear.

Lately, I'm thinking about anything and Jack's ass. Fixing the bulkhead pressing her ass up against it. Hitting the heavy bag, flipping Salim thinking about flipping Jack and touching that damn fine ass.

Jesus, I really need to get laid.


	59. Talos Prime

Anne had Layne in a sling she kept against her shielding him from notice as she wore a wool long coat. It was cooler than Hellion Prime and she wanted to keep him warm plus do her best to protect him. Kalifa and Salim stood on either side of her like body guards and Jack smiled giving Riddick the hint to take a look.

"Body-guarded like a national treasure." She told him squeezing his arm.

"He is and they know it." he growled nipping her ear. "72 hours Jack and not a second more."

Damn she was driving him insane. He could smell her, essence de Jack… the way her hips would move, the sound the fabric of her shirt made when she turned.

"Promises, promises." She said laughing. Salim watched them, truly marveling how much they loved one another. Allah had blessed him, by showing him that even when adversity had struck, time and again, true love prevailed and flourished.

"Bank on it Princess." He said walking beside her. Both looked menacing, he wore his lenses, and walked confidently in a deep black long coat, and Jack looked demure, beautiful and vibrant but at the same time, just as deadly.

Their first stop was to a dealer that Riddick knew that sold electronics and Jack's eyes went wide when the balding skinny man who came up to her chin addressed Riddick with a smile. "Well, I have not seen you in at least a year, Robert. Come, walk over here, out of the prying eyes of others. What can I do for you today? And who is this lovely lady? Very nice."

He gave her the manly once over and looked like he liked what he saw. She gave him the eye and smiled as Riddick began to smirk at her.

_Get over it kid._

"This, is Jack." Riddick said proudly. The small man's eyes went wide and he smiled a toothy grin.

"So _this_ is Jack. My, you did not lie when you said she was worth going back for." He said embarrassing Jack so bad her face was hot for hours.

_You're hot as hell Jack, get used men saying that…_

"What can I get for you?" he said winking.

"I need a laptop with a 3 terra gig dual processor, a hard drive big enough to handle a Mock 6 nav and com computer's data, and wireless integration for slick and easy access."

"You don't want much do you?" he asked shocked at her knowledge. "You cannot be more than 16."

"Almost 18 but that's not important. I need to be able to jack in and jack out at will and I need it in a hurry loaded with this software." She said handing him a piece of paper.

"This kind of machine will need to be built and it not come cheap. You're talking illegal pirate software and if I'm caught, or your caught with my hardware and…" he said getting flustered.

"Don't worry about a thing pops." She began playing with her wedding ring and smiling. "Let's just say, you make this work, you'll have many more hackers besides me making your business acquaintance. I'll make sure of that." She said leaning her elbows on the counter and winking. "Right honey?"

The skinny man, looked at Riddick who said, "Give the little lady what she needs Joe. I'll vouch for her. She's my wife."

Jack's eyes looked up at him and were so astonished he told anybody that she smiled a big shit eating grin.

"No shit! Took the vows. Damn, I'm getting old." Joe told him running his hands on his bald head. "Give me three days and this much." He said sliding a piece of paper in front of her.

"Done." She told him smiling like a kid in a candy store. She gave Riddick a wink and walked out the door those hips teasing the shit out of him. How he was gonna be able to wait three more days made him groan.

Jack met with Kalifa and Salim where she kissed the bundle in Anne's arms. "Riddick, I've known you almost 5 years. I wouldn't have pictured this in my wildest dreams. Is that little one yours?"

"He is." Riddick said leaning on the counter. "Just so you know, Jack's a pro, she can make you a lot of money. Trust her, I do."

And that in itself told Joe everything he needed about the petite brunette with the stop traffic dead body. "How old's your boy?"

"Almost two weeks." He replied getting himself ready to join them.

"Man, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy." Joe told him shaking his hand like any normal man.

"Thanks. We'll be in touch." Riddick told him and left without a backwards glance.

* * *

When Riddick, Jack and Salim decided where they should go next, Jack had an idea. They were relatively unknown on this planet, Toombs was too far out to alert anyone, if he even wanted to do that and she wanted to get that gun she needed for the darts her and Sasha were cooking up.

"I'll need something small, but powerful, twenty feet range if possible long range would be too ineffective. Tranquilizer darts about this big." She told him and he just the place.

An hour later Jack had her weapon. They got back to the ship, unmolested, because they were berthed in the restricted area, a perk for having a larger ship, and went back up the gang plank.

"What is wrong my brother?" Kalifa asked looking at Riddick close the hatch.

"Tired." he growled. But it was more than that, it was the weight of having a beautiful woman in his bed and not being able to do anything about it.

"You look more than tired my friend. I know that face. I still wear it more often than I would like." He said with a wry smile.

"Didn't know you had to wait so long to…after a baby." He said suddenly very grumpy.

"For human women, which Jack was but is no longer is it ranges from 6 to 12 weeks, not 2." He said not looking forward to Anne being that way. "Plus they do not recover as nicely as your wife has."

"Kal," he warned. "Watch what you say about Jack."

"A man who does not admire the beauty in simple things, even though his ability to take the beauty as his own, is a fool." He stated plainly.

"And a dead man touches what is mine." He retorted with a cold look in his eye.

"Go to her, bask in her beauty, the time will pass quickly enough." He said trying to comfort a fellow man who knew the strain of frustration.

"I think I will." He said walking with a new sense of purpose.

When he reached his room, Jack had put Layne to bed on her side of the platform and he rested so peacefully that Riddick took a moment to stare. Man he was too lucky. Then the darkness in him beckoned.

You don't deserve them. You're a murderer, an animal.

Then he heard her melodic singing and the splash of water. He slowly walked to the couch, took off his boots and socks, and removed his shirt. He saw her reflection in the mirror, mostly covered over with steam, and her breasts seemed to be bobbing on the lightness of the water, mixed with a mixture of vanilla and sandalwood. He was immediately aroused, and his black pants pinched him painfully. The bubbles that covered the rest of the surface just made him even more erect as she went under coming up with her hair slick down her neck.

"Been wondering when you were gonna try this out." He said leaning against the doorway and biting his lower lip. _He looks almost good enough to eat,_ she thought pushing the soap around in the water.

He ached all over. He wanted to touch her, to kiss her, to melt inside her. looking at her like this was torture…

"Hello." She said sinking a little lower. "Rough day at the office?"

"Could say that." He said leaning on the counter.

"Want a shoulder massage? I'm offering."

* * *

I ain't gonna say no to that. I watch her lean up against the side of the huge tub and smile, like she's watching me cause she wants me. "You see something you like princess?"

"I might." She says crooking her finger. "My you might need a more in depth massage than just your shoulders. I think I might have to re evaluate where I stop. You look, all tense. Remember, tense is bad."

Damn Jack, you're mean. Teasing me like that isn't nice.

As I step in the water, it's hot, a little hotter than I like it, it burns a little, but I'm sinking down and getting used to it. "How's little guy?"

"Perfect. Burped like a marine and went right to sleep. My question is," she said pulling me against those fucking amazing breasts, "how is Daddy?"

"Stiff." I tell her and that's true in more than one sense of the word.

Her hands are like magic against my skin. Man I missed her and its only been about three weeks. She was having a hard time at the end and I ended up showering longer and going back to fisting myself to keep from exploding or killing something.

"I can take care of that." She says simply. No Jack, when I take you, that's when I'll get off.

"No baby." I tell her groaning cause she just started on my neck. I can feel her feet wrapped around me and damn Jack that is not even remotely fair. I can feel ever single piece of those damn fine thighs…. Focus on massage or she's getting nailed in this hot soapy water.

* * *

Riddick sat back against Jack as she rubbed and worked out the sore and frustration induced muscles in his neck and shoulders. She ran her hands over his now soapy chest and neck driving him to a heat induced delirium. She smiled when she nipped his earlobe and grinned like the Cheshire cat when she rubbed herself against his back in an attempt to get comfortable.

"Jack." He grabbed her thighs to stop her from making it worse. "You're killing me and you know it.

"What if I tell you a story? It involves a good friend of mine. He didn't tell his best friend he wasn't feeling himself and thought he'd deal with it all on his own. But little," she said scooting around to stand on her knees in the deep tub, rising out of the water bubbles covering her, barely. "did he know that she was going through the same thing."

He was growling because she was teasing him beyond his tolerance for it. "So," she continued turning around to get the wash cloth, "I went and had a word with Sasha. She indicated that I'm so healthy, and since my menstrual cycle had stopped four days ago, that with a little shot, right here," she said pointing to her hip right beside the dragon's tail, "I could be back on my horse, so to speak any time I desired."

She took a small pitcher and rinsed the rest of the soap off and her him swallow loudly. "Jack…"

"Well, are you just gonna sit there or are you gonna have a taste? I mean I am naked, and completely ready, willing," she said turning around to show him her perfectly tone body. "and able."

His loud growl echoed through the small space as his hands grabbed her hips and pulled towards him. His mouth, hungry and impatient was kissing the soft skin of her stomach, showing no visible signs of being pregnant. "Damn Jack, it was like it never happened." He said rubbing his cheek against her as she kneeled in front of him. Her breasts descended to sit right on the top of the water and she smiled, kissing his neck.

"Furyan resiliency. Thank you for the upgrade baby. Makes me feel good to know my body pleases you now."

"It pleased me before, this is just a bonus. God Jack, I missed touching you." he said kissing her insistent lips then returning to that pulse slamming throat. He growled against her neck and she moaned in response. The low register of his throaty response to her breasts plastered wet against him only spurred her on.

"I missed you. I thought you didn't want me after, seeing me like that…" she said suddenly shy like he remembered. "So many nights I wanted to touch you, taste you, tease you into exploding. But I was afraid you didn't want me."

The thoughts of her going down on him in their bed while he was asleep was a little fantasy he had but he hadn't ever told her. Now hearing her say it made him hungrier. It humbled him to think she worried he didn't want her.

_Jack you're dense. Just absolutely fucken dense…_

"That Jack will never happen. You make me run so hot I can't stand it sometimes." He told her running his palms down her arms and lacing his fingers through hers. "Hot baths are good, very relaxing. But also, good for pouncing. You up for that, cause I can't stop touching you and I might not last. Plus I know you like it, you smell good."

"Well, after that shot I'm good for six months without a tune up." She told him straddling his legs. His hands rested underneath the water on her hips and stopped her.

"What are you talking about?" he asked rubbing his face against her breasts.

"No babies, until we want them, from now on. Or would you like me to get pregnant every time we get going?" she asked grabbing his cheeks and rubbing his face against her laughing.

"Smart girl." He said biting and nipping at the one orb he'd been eyeing for the last minute.

Her louder than usual groan as he pushed her down onto him while hungrily licking and sucking on her nipple drove him so insane that he growled against her chest in response. "Damn Jack." He said growling loud. "My favorite flavor. Sugary and vanilla. Missed," he said pushing upward sloshing water, "you," again, "so," and again, "much. Baby you feel so fucking good."

"Fucking is what I like, and I like it just," she said pushing down, "like this." She said picking up the pace. Both having been deprived for weeks felt their release coming on fast and strong.

He called out her name against her breasts and she heaved against him shattering against his chest. He started to laugh, a satiated, lazy laugh as he rested his head against the rim of the built-in mammoth sized tub. "Told you I'd last two minutes. But hey," he said kissing her soundly on the lips driving her to distraction. "there's more of _that_ later. Right?"

"When did that ever stop us?" she asked sitting with her feet out of the water. "Wash me my husband."

"With pleasure wife. With pleasure."


	60. Jacking in

**To all my faithful sorry for not update for the last few days. I had succumbed to a four day cluster migraine and it sucked beyond any rational thought. I would have rather had a bullet in the brain, at least I would have stopped hurting....**

**But to all those who patiently waited here is Chappy 60. **

**Dedicated to BloodluvsRoses, ???, PSL (I think it's fucking good too...)**

**Sita my sista in crime, Nina, Kendra and to Rose, got some more Toombs for ya**

**Eternal Celstial, you are the UBER best!**

**I PROMISE to update a few times this weekend. While I was on the mend, I reread the story just because I love it too, so when the pain stopped I could go on and be right where I left off.**

**Thanks to everyone, and for those who want to read some other great FF on Riddick, HATE VS LOVE. definitely awesome.**

**Bear in mind guys, that things are gonna get action packed now and after a talk with my sista sita, a sequel has been mulling around in the recesses of the blot bunny infected portion of my head. The next chappies are gonna be fun and we all know how Riddick likes his fun.**

* * *

Talos Prime

Joe met Riddick and Jack at the H Street bar after midnight three days later. "Hey, Robert." He said smiling, nursing a whiskey sour and tapping his hand on a silver briefcase.

"Hey Joe." Riddick said escorting Jack by placing his hand at the small of her back.

The bar was dark, just the way Riddick like it, with cold beer, pretty waitresses and no questions. It was his kind of place.

"Hey there Jack." Joe said smiling. Jack wore her favorite jeans, and a blood red top, with spaghetti straps and ending just around her navel, under a black leather coat. "Word on the street is you're a big payday now. But that's just another urban legend. Riddick's dead, been dead over a year now."

Removing her coat, turning and placing it on the back of the booth, giving Joe a clear view of her tattoos, Jack asked smiling at Riddick who smirked having to live with that for years, "How much?"

He stammered a bit, not unusual when he spoke to a beautiful woman, and Riddick tried to remain serious faced. It was hard because Jack seemed to enjoy making the man squirm.

He cleared his throat. "25 million." He said making them both laugh.

"Said you killed 50 men, women and children." Joe said joining in.

Jack leaned forward and shook her head. Riddick put his hand on the back of her neck and began to rub affectionately as he began to speak. "For the record, I killed 14 men, Jack killed one woman and I had to shoot one on the way out. I'm a killer, not a butcher, I don't do kids. And the bounty is 2 million for me and 250,000 for her."

"Damn." Joe told them taking another sip. He slid the briefcase towards Jack and beamed at her. "Sweetheart, I'm gonna say something. This is a masterpiece. A work of art…wireless, undetectable…FLAWLESS."

"Thanks Joe." She said just resting her nimble fingers on the metal. "I do love a man who can handle his hardware."

Joe blushed so red that Riddick had to stifle a laugh.

"Aren't ya gonna look at it?" he asked suddenly concerned.

"No." she said patting the silver metal. "I trust you."

Damn… Joe was impressed, and that happened rarely. His grin, widening each second accompanied his eyes darting back and forth between the two and he was convinced that the little lady before him, pleasing as hell on the eyes was the best thing to happened to his friend in a very long time.

"A pleasure doing business with you both. And congrats on the kid." He told them getting up to leave. "Don't forget to tell your friends."

"Bank on it pops." She told him turning to look at Riddick who had just become aware that they were in a secluded booth in a dark bar filled with strangers.

"Let's go Jack." He said and in an instant, they were gone.

* * *

Doctor Janis walked Roper to his tube and put him under sighing. She'd gotten the information and transmitted it in the following message, her next part of the plan was she had to get Toombs occupied, for hours. 

My Dearest daughter,

First, you are missed. Too many days have **_pass_**ed since I last saw you and Kasim. It has been **11** months, **26** days, and **2** **hours and 15 minutes** since we parted and I **f**eel the sepa**r**ation gr**e**atly. **Q**uite often I wonder how Allah **_co_**mes to deci**_de_** whom to bless. **Time** will tell…

I long** f**or the d**a**y when I see you again and p**ra**y that **_A_**llah **_g_**rants my prayer. In my life, I have seen both life and death, have hastene**d** it when **the** death knell sounded and ushered in life when the **p**romise of the future called. **P**eace an**d** quiet is what I **lo**ng for, to see**_ S_** again **a**n**d** realize my future is to see a taste of heaven

The wolves are quiet _I _hope except for the crafty one, _the leader_ always stalks so **be careful**. _Set_ting _a diversion_ is the only hope of success. **_A_**fter, you will know what you must do. Until my prayer is answered….

I will _always_ love you both. Kiss Ali for me and _be vigilant_. The wolves will soon be caught and bother you no more.

Your **_m_**othe**_r_**.

* * *

Jack walked up the gang plank and went directly towards their rooms. Layne was supposed to be sleeping and wasn't in his bassinet. 

On the couch however, slept Anne, with the boy perched atop her breasts both snoring peacefully.

She picked up the baby, placed him in the bassinet and watched as Anne sighed and sat up. "Fell asleep a little while ago."

"Get some sleep Anne, thanks." Jack said placing the lap top on the desk. Next to it was her old one and her music player on top.

She sat down, removed her coat, and leaned back in the chair. There was a message waiting for her and she checked her watch. It was after 1 in the morning and when Riddick joined her he grabbed a chair and sat silent, waiting for the answer.

**FREQ 1126 TIME 2 15 PASS CODE ASGA-MR**

**FARAD THE PP**

**BE CAREFUL… I SET DIVERSION THE LEADER **

**ALWAYS BE VIGILANT**

"Well, aren't we timely." Jack said aloud as she cracked her neck. She booted up her lap top, and scanned. With Toombs at least two weeks out, she had an indication from previous transmissions where he'd be and which area.

"Okay Jack. This is your show, where to first?" He asked laying his coat on the back of the chair and pulling up beside her.

"We need to track him. Find his ident and position, then prep my baby for a painless and undetectable entry. Janis is gonna have the rest of the crew doped so it's just Toombs she's got to occupy until I get passed their security. It's like hot-wiring a car with an alarm. Quick, and you're gone, but some newer ships take time and if he knows I'm trying to hack his ship Janis may have some trouble."

He rubbed her back and smiled. "I'm glad they taught you all this. I just love a smart woman." He crooned trailing his hand down her back.

"Right." She smirked. I have less than an hour to prep for the download and you doing that is gonna distract me."

"And I thought you could multi task." He quipped.

"I can, but I have to be able to get around things and I need all my resources for that." She said shaking her head.

"Baby?" she asked looking at her screen. "Sasha said I've got a little problem with Layne."

His face lost it's playfulness and he looked at her concerned. "What's wrong?"

"My milk's dried up. She's got some ideas how we could feed him through artificial means, and I thought you should know before you see him drinking from a bottle and not from me."

"You're not sick are you?" he asked watching her scan star charts.

"No, it just happens sometimes. Formula now is really scientific, all the nutrients, tastes okay, don't worry."

"Sure, so now those are just for play?" he said coming up behind her and grabbing both in his hands.

"Yes, you horny perv." She said laughing as his lips kissed her neck.

"Good, you know I hate to share." He said laughing a deep throaty laugh.

"Are you gonna help me or just play with my nipples?" she smirked looking up at him.

He paused making her laugh louder. "You really want me to answer that?"

Riddick smirked and sat back down in the chair and winked. "Hack into that asshole's ship there you."

"As you wish my lord." she said locating a single red blip. "Easy as pie. See, he's there. I can track his every movement. Better than a tracking beacon. Now, with this program and the use of the ship's long range scanners, I can tap into his ships FREQ and code like they would when he'd land on a planet. That gives me complete access to every file on the ship."

She put her foot up and leaned her chin on her knee and tapped the keys. "Once I'm in, I can even access the crew dossiers, pictures, backgrounds. I can even tell you the last time they ate. We'll know everything about them before he even steps on the planet. If there are cameras on board, I can even tap into those. You tell me what you want to know and I will have it at my finger tips."

"That Jack, makes my day. Getting the drop on that merc is gonna make me a very happy man. That bastard's been hunting me for years and I think it's about time it happened to him."

"Now, I've also programmed the ship's security protocols to alert me so when he looks at the files later on, it's as if nothing happened, and anybody decides to check and see if there's been any tampering, nothing will show up."

"Genius what happens after you copy his personal files and vid phone records?" he asked walking over and adjusting Layne's blanket.

"I use this program to create a virtual Toombs, one I can control using this." She said pointing to the screen. "This allows me to do something fun. Earlier this week, using my old computer I was able to compile enough of you from the med lab, to do this. Just to prove I could do it. We will control everything..."

On the vid screen above them, she displayed a very realistic representation of Riddick, down to his cat like movements. His eyes looked from her smiling, to the screen and then to her typing on the keyboard. "Now big guy I'm gonna type something I know you'd never say."

She got up, closed their bedroom door and sat back down. He was skeptical and she knew it. But that didn't deter her. She tried to keep a straight face. "Look at the view screen and listen."

"Hi, Riddick. I'm virtual Riddick. The latest creation by Jack. You're wondering what the hell I'm doin, just watch. First mistake Riddick, is that Toombs underestimated Jack." Then he watched himself smirk. "Do you think you'd be saying: Man," the virtual Riddick said in his classic low seductive growl. "Johns had the greatest ass. Couldn't get enough of that man's ass. Mmm loved to try and chase that ass around the planet. Wanted to touch it all the fucken time."

_She did** not** just make that fucken thing say that shit._

"Jack, that's just wrong." He glared menacingly at Jack. "Gotta admit though, it looks, moves and sounds like me. But that's just fucken wrong though."

He was very impresssed, deeply disturbed but still impressed.

"What, you didn't look at Johns when he was alive?" she asked. "I did."

"You did?" he asked cocking his head.

"Yeah, but after you get a taste of Riddick, everything else is just a second rate." She said smiling a broad shit eating grin. "That's with the old software. With Sasha's modified AI, and the newer version of the software, I'm gonna be able to allow her to _be_ Toombs. All with my prompting. Trust me, with the updated software I have now, you won't be able to distinguish him from the original."

"Baby, you keep surprising me." he told her completely convinced. "That copy of me even had my smirk, my head movements, the way I hold my mouth. Damn Jack, never knew you were that fucken smart."

"Be afraid, be very afraid. Smart women are very horny women." She quipped.

"I knew that already smart ass." He said looking at her screen. "Janis is sending a message."

After decryption it read:

JACK, DLOAD A GO

TOOMBS OCCUPIED IN MESS.

TWO HOURS STARTS 0215

GOOD LUCK

"Jack. I've been thinking." Riddick said when she started on the com computer's data link.

"Did it hurt?" she said playfully, getting a smack on her arm from Riddick. "About what?"

"The restraints." He said and she suddenly turned serious.

"Baby, we'll work around them. I know how they make you. I watched, I don't need you feeling that way again." she said holding his fingers and rubbing his palm against her cheek. It meant the world to her that he would endure the humiliation and torture for her, for them and she wanted to hug him and kiss him senseless for it.

"No, it's okay. I can handle it. I spent years in the dark and I know what's at stake." He said in a pained voice.

"No baby. We'll do it another way. I've been thinking about that." She said looking at the still of virtual Riddick. "Voila. Virtual man will be restrained. Remember that movie we saw a few months ago, where the kids were playing those video games on their computers. I can write it into the program and you're restrained. If I can make Toombs dance like a ballerina, I can restrain you. No harm no foul, you're still free. Sasha and I have it covered."

"She was supposed to be a med computer." Riddick said so relieved his sigh was the best sound she'd heard in a long while.

"She evolved." Jack simply said smiling. "OOH! I'm in. Jesus Toombs. Can you say, I'm in love with myself…"

"Jack?" he asked quietly.

Jack was so involved with bypassing unwanted files and security protocols that she murmured, "Yeah baby what?"

"Thanks, you're the best." He said meaning her attempts to get around him being restrained.

"Work with the best, become the best big guy." She said winking. "Watch me work baby. I plan on fucking him up from the inside out."

* * *

Janis knew that the download had begun. Jack was always so efficient she knew that the briefest of flicker in the lights was the signal. "Harold?" 

"Yeah?" he asked walking down the hallway.

"Hungry?" she asked looking at him with her best smile. Two hours was a long time to make small talk and she needed a diversion big enough to keep him away from any of the ships monitors.

"I could eat." _You. _He said smiling. "Whatcha cooking Doc?"

"Well, since we've got processed stuff, nothing special. But if you can eat that, I suppose I can cook it."

"Good, been a while since I got a meal cooked for me by a good looking woman." He offered smiling big.

"Well, it's been a while since someone like you ate it." she told him trying her best to keep her smile genuine.

One hour fifty minutes…. Could she do it? Charm him? She prayed to Allah for all their sakes that she could.


	61. Toombs ever the gentleman

"Wanna beer Doc?" Toombs asked trying to be a gentleman. Dinner consisted of some vegetables, and stew meat with steaming mashed potatoes. He watched her, every time she moved, spoke or took a breath, his eyes were always on her (something she used to her advantage).

"Sure, whatever you're having." She said putting the dishes in the sink. She felt his gaze even when her back was turned and she knew that she was in control of the entire situation.

Mentally, all afternoon, she tried to find a way to keep him occupied without having to actually resort to physical relations. There was no way she would defile her body with his even for Jack. She resorted to engaging him in conversation until the beer or alcohol put him down, and if that didn't work, she'd slip him a Mickey and blame it on a virus.

He returned with a two bottles and she noticed that he'd washed his hands and tucked in his shirt. _Trying to impress me Toombs, how utterly pathetic._

"So Doc," he said leaning against the counter. She was so nervous and preoccupied during dinner that she hadn't noticed that he shaved. "How's the kids?"

Inwardly, she rolled her eyes, he was trying to be suave…

"They're good. Wanting us to hurry." She told him drying the plates.

"Yeah, we should be on Talos prime sometime late next week." He said confidently. "Damn Doc, good food, good beer, man the only thing's missing is a good… sorry."

She laughed, playing him very well. "Men think along those lines, I have heard it many times."

He blushed slightly, and continued, "So how long were you married?"

"Twenty two years." She volunteered. _Twenty two years of sheer hell and torture._

"Damn that's a long time." He replied as they walked to the couch. She sat on one end, he sat on the other.

"Too long. My husband's only meaningful contribution was three beautiful girls."

"Where are the other kids?" he asked making the connection that she only talked about one.

"Dead. They died three years ago, within months of each other." She said looking away.

"Damn sorry, shit Doc." He said feeling bad and he thought they were hitting it off pretty good until he fucked it up by asking the wrong question.

"That's why my youngest was smuggled off the planet, to avoid the same fate. The men you work for peddle not in light and energy Harold, but flesh. Young women who come of age and are not wealthy enough to benefit from what money can provide are married against their will to people like Faisal Mohammed. So don't think less of me when I applaud Riddick for killing him."

_Well shit Doc, didn't know you had it that bad… _"Ain't my problem. I get paid, and I'm just glad your kid's safe."

"Well, enough talk about _that._ I have an idea, I have a vid disc we can watch, I brought it with me, a friend of mine gave it to me. It's an old earth disc."

"As long as it ain't no girlie movie. Hate that kissing shit."

"Too bad, sometimes girlie shit can be fun." She told him smiling and moving to get another beer.

_Well I'll be fucked. That was an honest to goodness come on…_

* * *

Riddick brought Jack coffee and rubbed her neck when her eyes rolled back into her head for the third time in the span of five minutes.

"Tired?" he asked and she nodded. "What's that shit?"

"Toombs' personal log. Audio only. I can adapt it to Sasha. Arrogant fuck. Listen to this." She said taking off her earphones.

"_Day 1 out of New Mecca. 2 million! WAHOO! Fuckers think I give a shit about Riddick. Told me to take good care of him. YEAH RIGHT. He'll be breathing… After this payday, it's easy street. No more jaw jackin pieces of shit trying to fuck me over and no more eating bad shit. Gonna live it up…"_

Then she played several others one after another while he sipped his own and checked on Layne.

"_Janis has a great ass. For a woman her age she must pound like an 18 year old."_

"What's it with you guys and asses?" Jack asked shaking her head.

"It's a guy thing Jack." He told her patting hers and sitting down.

"_Saw the video from the massacre. Riddick's a fucken artist. Shame about the girl though, fuckers shouldn't have touched her. I remember her on the helipad the day he left. Watched them. His face I won't ever forget. Ripped my gut to watch, it was like he left his heart in her little hand. Man, watchin them made me a believer."_

"Did it really hurt that day?" she asked taking his hand and looking into his silvery eyes. In the candlelight he looked so tender, inviting, and vulnerable.

"He was right. I left my heart that day, didn't get it back until I saw you again." he said touching her cheek.

"Wow." She whispered as his lips kissed her forehead.

_Love you Jack. _His eyes told her.

"What else does that asshole got to say?" he said wondering why he suddenly felt so threatened to hear Toombs talk about him like that.

"_Janis fucked us over. I'm gonna beat her ass and slit her throat while she sleeps. Fucken BITCH."_

"_Roper is convinced she's cool, down with us. Maybe I over reacted. The little bastard actually asked me if I was sweet on her."_

"_Farad contact me. Wants a progress report. Told the old fuck that we're getting there and didn't give him particulars. Don't want him trying to send another team to get my marks before I do. Gonna ask for half up front I think. Put Riddick on the bit, let him feel it and then get paid. But Jack, don't want to fuck her up. They did her ugly on HP. I'll give the bastard that, he didn't let them get away with it. Fucken perfection to watch…He loves her. Damn…" _Toombs actually sounded jealous and Riddick sat up straighter feeling very smug.

_That's **my** Jack motherfucker and you'd better secure that shit…_

Jack scoffed reading him right and sighed. "Riddick, stop. He's entitled to his opinion, as fucked up as it is. Remember, opinions are like assholes, everybody's got one."

Riddick laughed as he looked at the printout of the weapons manifest. Jack stood up and stretched and he stopped to stare at her smiling mischievously.

"Look much?" he just wiggled his eyebrows and smirked at her. "Okay, we can now assume that Toombs is gonna use that against you." she told him as he looked angrily at the screen.

"How do you figure?" he asked sipping the mug of hot liquid.

"That's what I'd do." Was all he said and he swelled with pride at her answer.

"_New London was a fucken bust. Son of a bitch switched ships. What the fuck!"_

"_Roper found out where they've gone. Where that kid gets it I've no fucken clue, but hey, however he does it, I could give a shit. Consider me motivated. Riddick's a horny mother fucker. Nailed the girl and knocked her up. Way to go stud! But who wouldn't? She's fucken hotter than any woman I've met, well, maybe there's one…"_

"_I figure, get the money, ditch the kid, deliver the two of them, and it's easy street. But who the fuck would take a convict's brat off my hands, just can't kill it. I got some fucken morals. I could have the Doc take it. She keeps talking to her kids. Kid ain't my problem. I just don't think Farad wants another brat in his fuck palace. Too bad about Jack. They're gonna rip her to shreds. But when the fuck did I get a fucken conscience."_

"See greed is his creed. All fucken mercs are that way." Riddick growled listening.

"Told you he's gonna ask for the money up front. That confirms it." Jack said trying not to think about what Toombs had just said.

"I'm gonna kill that fuck if he lays one hand on you or Layne." Riddick promised pointing at the screen.

"I have no problem with that. But remember, Toombs running is sooooo much better…" she told him starting the data download. "I'm accessing ships files and manifests."

_Daniel Roper: Cryo age 27 after cryo deduction age 23, _

_Born August 22 _

_Position: pilot_

_Computer specialist; experienced pilot_

_5'7 hair brown, glasses, weight 150 lbs. _

_scar on left eyebrow tattoo of bugs bunny on left bicep_

_Miles Cavanaugh: Cryo age 55 after cryo deduction age 47_

_Born December 5_

_Position: Gunner, retrieval specialist._

_Fought in Tangier uprising 2137_

_Experienced weapons expert, _

_left eye blind due to knife fight._

_5'11 balding blonde hair. Weight 165 pounds_

_Metzger: Cryo age 34 after cryo deduction age 29_

_Born September 15_

_Position: Gunner, retrieval specialist_

_Special ops training, former guard Lupos 5 Penal colony._

_5'10 brown hair, weight 200 lbs. _

_tattoo of a bulldog on right forearm, scars on neck._

_Olaf Johannson:Cryo age 27 after cryo deduction age 25_

_Born January 1_

_Position: Gunner, retrieval specialist_

_Enforcer for mob on Tangier colony. _

_Specialty hand to hand combat._

_6'4 white blonde hair, weight 255 lbs._

_"the Swede" tattoo of Tangier mining colony on shoulder_

_Known for using a knife._

_Dr. Rafaela Janis: Cryo age 46 after cryo deduction age 42_

_Born May 17_

_Position: Ship's doctor._

_5'7 deep black hair, brown eyes, weight 150 lbs._

_Harold Marvin Toombs: Cryo age 49 after cryo deduction age 43_

_Born July 1_

_Position: Captain_

_5'10 reddish brown hair, facial scars weight 175 lbs._

"Well, I can see we've got our worked cut out for us." She said sitting back and letting the last of it down load. "Looks like you've got your work cut out for you. Big guy with the knife fetish, seems like that's right up your alley."

"Look," he said getting up, and pacing. "they're all dead anyway, cept for the Doc, that's not my call. She's held up her end." He told her looking at the photos and committing them to memory. "You about done?"

"Yeah just backing out just as slick as you please. Both Toombs' and their com's computers are copied. I've got everything down to how many tooth brushes are on board. If we need to jack back in I've got that covered. Just as easy as getting you hard big man. One stroke and I'm in. Let's get to sleep. Little guy will be awake in an hour." She said cocky.

"Good." He said walking over towards him. "Can you still nurse? Do we have something we can give the little guy if you can't? I don't think there's a market anywhere close, it's not like there's a 7/11 around."

"Baby, you watch too many old earth movies. Jeez! Sasha's got it in the lab. I'll get it." She said starting to get up.

"No, I'll do it. I want you in that bed when I get back." He ordered smiling. When she hesitated he growled playfully pointing. "Move that ass Jack."

"Keep your pants on big guy." She told him signaling Janis she was finished.

* * *

Janis noticed a dimming of the lights and she knew that Jack had pulled it off. Since they were watching Die Hard With A Vengeance and the mess was dark, Toombs didn't even notice.

Thankfully, Janis didn't have to endure his advances which surprised her. Men of his sort didn't usually exhibit such restraint. She was fully prepared to retaliate against his advances but part of her actually enjoyed his company. She had to keep him at bay, but he didn't seem the bad man that she knew lay just under the surface.

"Had a good time there Doc." He told her. "Been really nice talking to you like a fucken human."

"Why, because you're the type to "pay for the pleasure"?" she asked as she clicked off the vid screen.

He laughed hard and loudly. "Can't lie about that Doc. Gotta get some whenever you can and if you gotta shell out, well, that ain't a bad way to go."

She laughed, he was pathetic and sad but funny. He trusted her and she wanted that to continue until she reached Talos Prime. "You're funny Harold, truly funny."

"Ya know, no one calls me that but you and my mother. And she's dead." He admitted putting his feet up.

"Well, there's a first for everything." She replied cleaning up.

"I'd like to do this again, you know, eat and hang out, I mean it's just us and it's pretty boring out in space."

_Ever the gentleman aren't you Toombs?_

"Are you trying to get in my pants there Harold?" she quipped ready for the 'pounce'.

"Might be, you never know…" he said smiling. "Night Doc."

And then he walked out laughing like he'd just won a huge payday at the blackjack tables.

_Damn Doc. That face was priceless. _He said walking awkwardly to his quarters. His dick was as hard granite and he wanted to be nice, for once in his life. He wanted to know what normal felt like, and he thought he'd been a good boy the entire time. She smelled wonderful, she smiled at him and he was so turned on he wanted to jump her all through the movie but did nothing.

He closed his door, went to the shower and began to alleviate the source of his frustration satisfied that she didn't turn him away and the might, just might, not have to do that so often in future.


	62. The Master plan unfolds

The next week flew by and Jack wanted to pull her hair out most of the time. From the early morning hours after Salim made her do kata to focus her energy, and 30 minutes of sparring and evasion techniques, until Riddick would pull her to their bedroom and forcibly remove her clothes taking her to bed, she worked to get the programs up and running, work out what they needed to arrange, and the details of the elaborate plan to get the mercs off their necks, get the money, and their revenge on Toombs.

She paced, she shouted, scribbled, muttered incoherently and barely noticed that she'd stopped eating. It was only when Riddick took her hands and lead her to the mess that she realized it was that time of the day again.

On the seventh day, after dinner with less than a week to go before Toombs would hit Talos Prime, she unveiled the "MASTER" plan.

"Okay everybody," she started, shoving a piece of bread in her mouth. "I've got it all done now. Sasha?"

Sasha's voice came over the comms and Jack sat on Riddick's lap with her lap top in front of her.

"Ready Jack."

"Phase one: We downloaded the necessary files from Toombs' ship so I could get access. So far, he's unaware, the crew except for Janis, is in stasis and I've got details on everyone.

First, We have Daniel Roper. I researched what I could find on him. Smart, more tech, no combat experience. He's gonna be a problem if he starts screwing around with the nav or com computers. But I've covered my tracks. Janis says he's nice, as far as mercs go. This is his first snatch and grab. He's young and likes to carry a pulse pistol."

Riddick had never seen her so prepared. She had notes on everything. He'd looked at some of it. She was thorough as hell. His chest swelled with pride and he wanted to get started.

"He likes pretty girls. Brunettes, so Anne, you're out for the purposes of eye candy."

"Good, I like being back with the equipment anyway." She said looking to Riddick for validation. "I'm better in the med lab. Keeping the fort, taking care of little guy."

"Then it's settled. She's staying on the ship. She's not trained to handle combat anyway." Kalifa said relieved he too looked to Riddick.

"Agreed." Riddick said authoritatively. "Anne stays on the ship and takes care of the wounded and Layne."

"Next, is Cavanaugh. What I found out about him was that the blinded eye was due to an argument on Terra Luna after a deal that went sour 10 years ago. He's still deadly with the one eye. Old school, if you know what I mean. Been doing it for a long time so keep an eye out for him."

"He won't act rashly. He'll be observant." Salim offered looking at his service record. "Black ops, demolition, the man knows war."

"Next, Metzger. Former Guard Lupos 5." Jack started when Riddick's hold around her waist got tighter. "Trained at—"

"I knew I recognized that son of a bitch. Nasty mother fucker. Liked working over the new fish. He was Marine Corps. We need to watch him, he likes to see em bleed." Riddick said growling growing agitated.

Jack rubbed Riddick's arm and took a deep breath continuing, "Now, here's a problem." Jack started. "Olaf Johannson. Known as 'the Swede.' Baby, he's all yours. Likes knives and is fast and big. Go get em tiger. He was an enforcer on Tangier 2. That's a big boy."

"No problem Jack. Next." He said leaning his chin on her shoulder. He'd look over his stats later, he wanted to hear the entire plan, one thing at a time.

"Then there's Harold Marvin Toombs, entrepreneur and soldier for hire. We really need to watch him. We want him alive. I've got the tranq gun for his ass. Once we pick off his guys, we go after him." She told them finishing the first phase.

"Now," she said getting up and standing in front of the assembled group. "Sasha and I have constructed a virtual Toombs. He's almost as bad as the original. I've tested him out and even Riddick approves. He's just as rude, arrogant, and obnoxious as the original. But under our control. Phase 2 of the plan will be this. Right now, Toombs' ship is off line. But since Roper is out, he doesn't know this. And by the time Roper is awake and talkative, I'll have already taken care of everything.

Over the last three days, I've been sending communications relayed through our advanced long range relay systems and Farad is dealing with my Toombs instead of the actual Toombs. He is pleased and now we're gonna start discussing a change in the compensation agreements. That's where Phase 3 happens.

Anne, Riddick and I are gonna go to a bank in the city and open an account. I'm Farad's daughter, and Anne is my translator while the big guy here is Jabbar Haras."

Everyone chuckled and Riddick smiled knowing what those words meant. Jabbar Haras, most powerful bodyguard…

"Thank God I studied and speak fluent Arabic. We get the transfer codes and account numbers, give them to Farad and wait for the money to drop. Trust me, with these photos, he'll pay."

Then Jack had Sasha show digital representations of Jack, shackled, blindfolded and a bit in her mouth, in stasis next to a similar version of Riddick. She felt his body tense and flinch. "I'm even willing, as a gesture of good faith, submit to him DNA samples."

Riddick shifted moving her and she moved on. "Then when Toombs' lands, I've got a message from Farad, waiting and when Toombs goes to contact him, he'll be contacting us, text only since he's out so far. No messages will ever get to New Mecca, I'll intercept them first."

Jack stopped for a moment, taking a drink. "Then once we get Janis, and know where the others will be we take the money once it hits, redeposit it elsewhere, take out the other members of the team, then go after big Daddy Toombs. We want him alive. The plan is to humiliate, then cryo his ass and send him back to Hellion Prime to face the music. He'll be expected to have us, and when he doesn't, and no money, they'll frag his ass."

"Jack, that plan is very well thought of." Salim told her looking to Riddick. They had seen her push herself too hard all week and had decided that once she was finished they would make her rest. "You must rest now. The hardest work is done. Am I not right Riddick?"

"You are." He said as everyone got up. He watched Jack close her laptop and sit back in the chair. "Jack."

"Yeah babe what?"

"You need a little down time. You've been burning it at both ends for over a week. Come on, let's go and relax." He told her and it was not a request.

"But what about Layne?" she asked looking at the baby, sleeping in his bassinet in the mess.

"Covered kid, see?" he said holding out his hand as his Baba Salim took him and began to sing in Arabic. "Shower, bed, and sleep, for at least a few hours. You need it. Then, we figure out the bank. But for now, it's rest and I ain't takin no for an answer Jack."

"Fine." She said in mock disgust. "I'm tired as hell all of a sudden."

"I know. 18 hour days are rough. Now move that ass Jack." He said in a playfully gruff growl.

"I want you to know Jack that we're all proud as hell of you." he told her holding her hand and walking to their quarters.

"I'm just afraid that it'll all fuck up. There are so many ways this could go shitty." She admitted when she sat on the edge of the bed.

"That's all right, we've got back up plans too." He told her and explained that Kalifa and Salim were fully prepared to kill them all. "Now," he said pulling off her boots. "A hot shower, then bed. I want you to sleep."

She hadn't been sleeping more than three hours a day and when she did, she would wake screaming. More than once he had to clamp his hand over her mouth so she wouldn't wake Layne and each time he'd pull her to him and soothe her. "There's so much that could go wrong Riddick."

"Sh." he told her pulling her top off and unclipping her hair. It had begun to drift below her shoulders again and he ran his fingers through it petting her. She closed her eyes and moaned with a content grin on her face. "Like that?"

"Oh yeah. Your hands on me always make me feel so good. I think I like you best when you do this." She said wanting so much to lean back and drift off to sleep.

"This?" he asked laying her back so he could remove her pants.

"That and the huge dick thing. Man, I hadn't realized I was so tired." she said yawning bigger than he'd seen in quite a while.

"It's all right kid. I'll be here. Rest, the shower can wait until later." He said pulling up the blanket. "Love you Jack."

"Mmm. Love you too Riddick." She said as sleep pulled her under.

Riddick put his goggles back on and left Jack snoring slightly snug underneath a warm blanket. He was glad she'd crashed because there were some things he needed to discuss with Salim and Kalifa that he didn't want Jack to know about.

He found Salim and Kalifa working out in the gym, going through complex moves that he had come to admire since they had been together. His training with and without the use of his eyes was extremely challenging and he felt confident that he'd done well.

"My son." He said stopping and standing next Kalifa who had blood coming from his lower lip. "Let us discuss how and with what means we will dispatch these others before the final blow to this Toombs fellow."

"Roper, he's a lightweight. My concern is for the old man and the Swede." Kalifa said sitting down on the mat and putting his hands on his knees.

"That is true my son. His proficiency is well documented. I am confident in your abilities though. We must train more, and blindfolded. You must perfect using your other senses to fight." He told Riddick as he handed him the blindfold. "Are you ready?"

"Bring it on." He announced standing up.

* * *

Anne, Jack and Kalifa stood outside a shop that catered to the richest of women clients. "You sure you can do this?" he asked them as both women looked at him with an incredulous glance.

"Yes. I am a rich pilgrim and I need to dress like it. No dowdy clothes, this isn't New Mecca and I want to make an impression or the bank is a wash. Wait here. We'll be out in a few minutes. Now look like my bodyguard already." Jack said dressed in a long black abaya and veil.

Riddick had a few words with her and she wanted to argue but part of the plan had to happen that way and she wasn't going to back down. It was only when she opened it up and showed him her jeans, mechanic's boots and a tight form fitting T-shirt did his face changed from a scowl to a eye brow wiggling smile.

"_No old lady shit Jack. Don't be gone long."_ He ordered and returned to the pummeling he was getting blindfolded.

"_Promise."_ She told him kissing his cheek before he left.

She emerged almost an hour later with two bags and one for Anne, then she walked to the alley, discarded her veils and abaya and Anne did the same revealing her dressed in jeans, a top and a pair of comfortable boots herself.

"Now, I need something to knock someone's socks off." She told Kalifa and Anne, "And for this I need your opinion."

"Mine?" he asked nervously. "You mean Riddick's."

"I know his tastes Kalifa and I need to know if you like what I choose. This is to lure Roper out so I can kill him."

"Riddick wouldn't approve of your methods Jack." He warned.

"Riddick is gonna have his hands full with the Swede Kal, now move." She said pushing him inside and securing her abaya in her back pack.

"This is wrong." Kalifa said looking at the clothes. "On so many levels."

He watched as Jack came out wearing a pair of cognac colored leather pants that sat low on her hips, a pair of boots underneath and a belt that could hide her shiv. Her top was a creamy beige with string straps that criss crossed between her shoulder blades and that not only held her firm taut breasts in place but revealed to anyone who looked that the blouse did not have a back and laid at her sides showing every bit of her tattoo that was visible above the belt.

"May Allah be merciful when your husband finds out I saw you in that." He exclaimed.

"Good. Just the reaction I wanted." She said walking to the sales person and smiling. "I'll take these and the boots. Give me two more in those colors. And that blouse."

The last shop the visited was a women's toiletries shop and Jack and Anne took their time. Perfume, cosmetics, ear rings, and things he would never have thought of. When they arrived back at the ship Kalifa walked to the gym took his coat off and began hitting the heavy bag much to the amusement of his father and brother.

"Don't even ask me how my afternoon went." He growled as his fists hit the large oblong bag.

"You lost with the short straw Kal." Riddick said chuckling. "You lost."

He grunted and went at it for nearly 30 minutes before Riddick saw Jack walk towards the med lab.

"Princess?" Riddick said standing behind her as she loaded more ampoules. "What are you doing?"

"Getting my gun ready. Why?" she asked sliding the darts into the clip. They resembled bullets and Jack knew she'd take down a bull with these if she needed to.

"Wondering. You want to go out into the city tonight?" he suggested.

"You mean like a date?" she asked cocking her head slightly to the side.

"Yeah." He told her moving to invade her personal space. "With the promise of sex at the end." He purred in her ear as he grabbed her by the buttocks and lifted her onto the examining table.

"Well," she said putting her arms around his neck and playing with his shirt. "if you put it that way. Sure."

"Love you Jack." He said thinking he could say that to her every day for the rest of their lives and not get tired of it.

"Love you too big guy." She said kissing him.


	63. Date night part 1

**To Rose, three chappies once FF got unstuck!**

**To all those, here's a little chappy to set up some FUN!**

* * *

Riddick sat on the couch, thinking. He remembered the first time he saw her. He was talking to Fry in the wreckage.

_Where can I get eyes like that?…_

_You gotta kill a few people. _

_I can do that. _

_Then you gotta get sent to a slam where they tell you you'll never see daylight again. _

_Cute kid._

He liked her eyes, looking at him. No one had dared to stare at him for a very long time and he admired her courage. She still looked like a scared rabbit but he liked the attention all the same.

Thing was, she wasn't afraid. She should have been but she wasn't. That was his first clue that she was different.

The second happened when they were on the skiff. It was dark, Imam had fallen down and slept due to exhaustion, dehydration and trauma. She quieted the animal in him, and he liked that feeling. He liked knowing she had that power over him, even though he didn't want to admit it at the time.

"Hey, you fall asleep in there? Clock's ticking Jack." He said checking the clock on the wall.

She opened the door and the first thing he noticed was she smelled good, very good. His eyes moved upwards and saw new boots, a pair of black leather pants, and a turquoise top, and top was a very vague term for what she wore. It was the front of a top, resting just around her waist laying like petals on her skin. His eyes drifted upwards to see thin straps that held back her pert voluptuous breasts. Around her neck was a choker with the medallion around it like a collar.

"You like?" she asked and his eyes found a pair of lips graced with a tinge of color and those hazel eyes gazing into his. "Thought you might enjoy a little possessiveness."

She ran her hand around her neck and he liked it. It reminded him of a dog collar but it was made of black satin and the medallion lay in a loop at the hollow of her throat.

_Nice Jack, very nice…_

He only nodded. "Damn Jack." He said standing up and walking towards her.

"Good answer." She said giving him a 360. "Thought you'd approve."

When he got a look at her completely he sat on the arm of the couch adjusting himself and pulling her against him roughly. "Baby, we might not make it out of this room you keep that up."

"Promises, promises." She told him smiling seductively. No matter what happened between them she'd never get enough of his hands on her, or those silvery eyes staring at her.

He wore his contact lenses and the colors were incredible. The blue green set off the red and gold in her hair and she kept it back in a simple knot at the back. Her makeup was soft and sexy and he was doing his best to keep his animal side at bay. Playtime for the beast would come later.

"The new scent is very nice." He said inhaling her and nipping her ear. His hands moved along her smooth lower back and down over the soft calf skin leather. "So is this." He said cupping her and crushing her against him. "What do you wanna do now Jack?"

"Now that's a loaded question baby." She purred in his ear, playing with his neck. He groaned and she felt his arousal against her. "Man you look good enough to eat."

"So do you. Hungry?" he asked rubbing his thumb against her hardened nub.

"Might be. Whatcha got in mind Captain?"

"Dinner, a little dancing, and a whole lot more of this." He said pulling her astride him. She grabbed a hold of his forearms and leaned back giving him a very nice view of her. He ended up groaning as he felt her legs around him and watched her nipples get harder when he touched them. "Jack, we'd better get going or we're not leaving."

"If we have to." She sighed stepping off.

* * *


	64. Date night part 2

When Riddick and Jack entered the restricted section of the spaceport, Jack sighed. Dinner, a bit of dancing and Riddick's tactile attention made her smile, but there was a sadness in that reaction to the ship.

"What's the matter Jack?" Riddick asked hitting the keypad that would deactivate the security shield.

"Nothing." She muttered walking up the gang plank.

"That sigh ain't nothing kid. Talk to me." he said with his hand at the small of her back.

"Tired. Don't worry about me." she lied walking passed the mess.

"Wrong answer Jack. Try again." he smirked as they hung their coats in the closet. He watched her sit down on the bed and actually saw a tear grace her cheek.

"I'm tired." she said again.

"Maybe you are." He decided kneeling between her legs and playing with the edges of her blouse. "But that's not why your face sprung a leak."

* * *

Her body language, the way her skin feels when I touch it tells me something's wrong. "I'm scared."

So that was it. Well kid, you'd be an idiot not to be. We got a whole helluva lot to lose. "I'll protect you and little guy."

"That's not the point. Will it ever be over?" she asks me.

Now, as much as I want to say yes, I can't really answer that with any certainty.

"You know I can't answer that Jack."

Then her eyes, the ones that bore into my soul tell me, "I love you Riddick. What _can_ you tell me?"

Now there's a question I can and want to answer.

_You're beautiful._

_You're so god damn smart it's scary._

_You love me._

_I love you._

_And yes Jack, you make pretty babies. I want a couple more, with you, I want the whole fucking thing._

"Come here." I say pulling her towards me.

* * *

One hand on her waist the other holding the side of her tender throat, Riddick pulled her against him. "That I love you. For years in the slam, when I'd never thought I'd get out, I used to dream of hearing someone say those words to me. I promised myself that if I ever got lucky, I'd say that, often."

He kissed her softly, purposefully, letting her know she mattered. "The animal in me wants to throw you on this bed and rip your clothes off, but another part of me wants you," he said kissing her throat, "just like this."

Her whimper at his touch, his tongue, his cheek against her skin, made her weak inside. "How big a part?" she chuckled as his hands moved up to rest just underneath her breasts.

"Depends," He said leaning his rigid pelvis against her, "on your point of view."

* * *

The next morning came quickly and Jack didn't want to leave the comforts of their bed. Anne and Kalifa had made it plain that they were going to take Layne and that she should enjoy what freedom she could find. She wasn't going to pass that up.

Riddick was in the shower as she laid his clothes out. She carefully placed onto the bed, black slacks, boots, a white shirt, under garments (socks and such) and a black blazer (big enough to hold the shoulder holster for his pulse pistol.)

On the dresser were a watch, a pair of sunglasses and his contact lens case. She stood dressed in a turquoise suit, wearing her hair back and leaving it curl on its own, her medallion on the inside of the shelf dress, and putting her earrings in while she carefully put makeup on. When he emerged in a towel, he looked up.

"You look classy Jack." He said in his low growl. "Very classy."

"Why thank you, but you're gonna need to be the strong silent type today. Can't talk to the help." She smirked. She leaned down, picked up a shoe and held it in her hand waiting for him to give her shit about her comment.

_I had to fuck with ya a little. _She smiled looking at him while she put a pair of high heeled matching pumps.

"Is that so princess?" he said walking purposefully towards her.

"Don't you're still dripping wet." She shrieked putting her hands up.

"I'll get you _later_ for that baby." He warned drying his chest and watching her gawk. "Look much?"

_I love making you squirm. Damn Jack, you keep looking kid. _

He turned giving her a great view of the back of him while he looked at what he was needing to wear. "Get going Jack. I'll be done in a minute."

"Nope, enjoying the show." She told him putting a scarf around her shoulders. She tied it carefully putting a pin to keep it in place.

She would wear the scarf on her head once she walked outside. Jack and Anne had opted for something that wouldn't be so strict, like the head scarves that they were forced to wear on Hellion Prime.

"Suit yourself." He said continuing to dress. His face was one of triumph.

"When we get to the bank, you just look menacing. The back story is you're guarding me while I'm in the system. Anne is the translator who'll translate everything I say. Just look like you'd kill anything."

"And princess how is that different than any other day?" he smirked laughing.

"Okay, I see your point. How do I look?" she asked securing the head scarf to lightly cover her head; it framed her face so beautifully he couldn't keep that fact to himself.

"You look really nice. That color really does it for you. But I told you that last night, twice." He quipped as she came to button his shirt. She smelled good, like last night, but different. "You smell different."

"It's a different fragrance. Last night's was for you. Today, I wear rose oil, something subtle. Something to say, polished, refined, classy. Last night, was the animal, the one that wanted action. You know what I mean?"

_Bank on it princess. I get it._

"Yeah. But I like this too, it's soft. Last night was definitely, more primal. Loved that, I still got the scratch marks you cat." He said in mock anger.

"You are going to make it hard to speak in Arabic. All I'll be thinking about is you and that animal you decided to let out. I still have _your_ marks on me." she told him lifting the knee length skirt to show his love bites on the inner part of her thigh, very close to his favorite place to play.

"Marking what's mine is only the beginning." He said putting the holster on. "Keep showing me that leg Jack and we ain't going anywhere." He said looking back at the bed.

"You did that four and a half years ago Riddick, keep that in mind. Granted you didn't know what that medallion represented but I knew deep in here what it meant. And don't tell me you didn't think about it. I've got Toombs to confirm it."

He couldn't deny it and with a smug smile, he answered her. "Jack, when I left that platform I knew that I had to do whatever I could to make myself the man I could return to you as. So yeah, I admit that. But had I known what they were doing to you, I'd of took you off with me, skinny, bald, and flat chested."

He was looking at her breasts when he said that and she rolled her eyes. "But then I wouldn't have that long list of skills you seem to love."

"I'd have given you a _long_ list." He said turning around and tucking his shirt in.

"Damn Riddick. I'm quivering already, but honey, your list is not only long but thick, don't forget that. Wider is always better." She said sarcastically which got her a swat on her perfect ass. "Do _that _again and we're _definitely_ not going anywhere."

"Do I look menacing enough to you?" he asked looking at her. He stood, black on black with a white shirt and no tie, when she walked over and handed him a nicely made gold watch. "Nice Jack, nice."

"You're looking like a high class bad ass baby. The watch, that's just something to tell time. Now, for the specs. All good bodyguards have specs. Makes them look good."

He laughed, a loud booming laugh which made him smile. "Come on Jack, let's get this over with, I need to get you back here. Anne and Kalifa want to get married today and since we're dressed we might as do it for them and let them finally get laid."

"As you wish my lord." she said smiling and giving him a wink.

When Jack and Riddick came towards the mess, Baba Salim was giving his surrogate grandson a bottle. "Hey little guy," his mother said running her knuckle against his cheek. The baby's eyes opened and he looked at her. "Mommy and Daddy have to go with Auntie Anne for a little while, you be good for Baba Salim now."

"Thanks Salim. This shouldn't take long. I think that we're gonna be in for some kissing ass and it would be nice to have someone else cater to us for a change."

"May Allah bring you swiftly back Jack. Riddick be aware." Salim told him as Riddick touched his son's hand.

"I will. Be ready for us in about two hours. Our appointment is for 11." He told them charging the pulse pistol and putting it in his holster. He took three blades and placed them in his boots. "Come on Ladies."

Anne who had come in wearing a simple white blouse, dark blue skirt, boots and a deep blue long coat and deep blue head scarf smiled. "As you wish Riddick."

When they walked down the gang plank, Riddick stood with the ladies closer to the wall, Jack carrying her matching purse and smiling. "You clean up VERY nice Kasim. I am very impressed. Isn't he very impressive Anne?"

That comment was in perfect Arabic and Riddick looked like he understood her. His face was a mask of calm but Jack knew she shocked him. The only visible indication of his distress was a twitch in his jaw. She knew that twitch very well.

_How the hell did that happen?_

"Jack what the hell just happened? You were speaking in Arabic and I heard it in English. I knew you were talking to her in Arabic, I watched your lips move." He said incredulously.

"Technology baby. There's a chip in your shades. I fine tuned it to translate sending impulses through the auditory nerve in your ears telling your brain that you're hearing English and not Arabic. It's so you can keep up with the conversation."

"You keep surprising me Jack. I knew you were smart but DAMN." He said impressed. "I wonder if Imam knew you were this smart?"

"Yes, he surrounded me with tutors who made it their personal mission to pester my ass until I knew more than they did."

Anne turned to Riddick and met his eyes. "She saved three dozen girls over a year's period of time Riddick. She saved them from death or worse." She said looking at the ground.

"But I didn't save you." Jack told her ashamed.

"Jack." Riddick said calling her back. She shouldn't feel like she failed Anne. "Don't you dare."

"He is right Jack. Berating yourself because I was married to Mohammed was not your fault. You came back, and in the process saved me." she said placing a hand on her arm. "You saved so many."

She said that in Arabic and smiled. Riddick's shit eating grin returned still impressed with Jack's little toys. They walked into a public place and spoke in Arabic. Riddick, silent but ever present showed anyone in the crowd that these women were his to protect and anyone coming near them would find trouble.


	65. The bank

**Thank you thank you all I have made it to 200 reviews! WOW.**

**I am now having to put foot to ass to get this finished because I need to write something to publish for money. I've lost my job and you all have given me the confidence to try this for $ $ $ $.**

**CALLING ON ALL REVIEWERS!!!!!  
**

**I need is your support. And anyone who wishes to read some of my other good stuff, lots of good smut, violence (where it's needed) and good snappy comments, I'd love anybody to listen.**

**Thanks again!**

**This is dedicated to Rose, Sita, Kendra, Zippy and to E-celestial.**

**And this is also Dedicated to the amazing, sexually incredible **_Vin Diesel._

* * *

George Madison was a man in his late forties. His hair was neat, his suit was impeccable. When he watched the two women walk into the bank's foyer with a large man dressed in what he thought was a very nice suit, he rose and put his 'how may I help you' face.

The large man frightened him. He didn't like it when these rich types would bring in their hired muscle. But looking at the woman in the turquoise he could see why. She wasn't attractive, she was stunning.

The woman standing next to her smiled as well. "Mr. Madison?"

"Yes, Ms. Farad I presume?" he said looking at her and attempting to shake her hand but thought it wouldn't be proper.

The beautiful woman spoke and smiled as Madison indicated they sit. The bodyguard behind them remained standing and looked at him, and smirked. "My mistress wishes to thank you for seeing us today."

"Tell her I am at her service. It is my pleasure to see to her needs today." He said as Anne translated what he said to her.

Jack began to ask him what kinds of services that they provided and what kind of anonymity could be secured. Anne translated with no problems.

"Tell her that with our security protocols, it is our standard procedure to have our patron's privacy secured. Now, how may I be of service?"

Jack spoke smiling and removing a chip from her purse. "My mistress wishes to open an account starting with the funds on this chip. She wishes also to let you know that her father will depositing funds to this account. His bankers on Hellion Prime will make the transfer soon and she wants the money immediately available."

"How much are we talking about?" he asked typing into the screen.

Jack wrote a number down on a piece of paper and slid it at him. His face blanched at her and he said, "I can't allow this kind of cash to be immediately available. I- uh…"

"Yalah Yemshi." (Come on, let's go.) Jack said loud enough for others to hear, curtly rising. She took the chip back off the desk and nodded to Riddick who held out her chair.

She walked to the middle of the room and never turned once towards him. In Arabic Anne said, "playing chicken Jack?"

"Wait for it." she told her back in Arabic and Riddick smiled. These women were good. He watched as the manager of the bank came running.

"Ms. Farad. I apologize. I didn't mean to misspeak. Please come sit down. I am very sorry to have offended you."

Riddick could tell that he was very nervous. "My mistress tells me that no one on Hellion Prime would have dared to insult her and she wants you to know that she is disappointed in the bank thus far. Now," Anne told her repeating everything Jack was telling her to say, "what can you do to secure that the transfer would proceed smoothly?"

"There are alerts that we have in place. When does Ms. Farad expect the transfer?" he asked hoping that she wasn't going to take her business elsewhere. Over a million in his bank was quite a large account. He wanted her to stay.

"Within the week." She repeated in English. He kept looking back behind her to the man with no smile, dark sunglasses and the bulge of a pulse pistol underneath his arm.

"Very good. I will make the initial deposit of 50,000 into this account. You may access it in the morning if it is your wish." He said while Anne repeated it to Jack in Arabic.

They rose to leave and Riddick escorted the two out. Jack's face was placid, the same face she used when she was tormented by Ziza and her old cronies. It was only when they reached the security of the restricted section of the spaceport that she broke out into fits of laughter.

"I swear he almost shit himself." She said looking up at Riddick. "You my love were absolutely brilliant."

"I should say the same about Anne. She made it hard for him to say no." he said complimenting Anne and causing Jack to smirk. "You did real good Anne. I was impressed. You didn't lose your cool."

"Thank you Riddick. I was very nervous." She admitted. He could tell, her scent was unrefutable but he wasn't going to call her on that.

"Jack, now what?" he asked throwing his suit coat over his shoulder.

"Well, now we contact Farad and ask for the money. After of course, the _wedding_." Jack said smiling at Anne. "You ready to take the plunge? The fringe benefits are very nice, very nice."

She began eyeballing Riddick like a slab of beef and he wasn't going to get into it with her in front of Anne. He would have said something to get her going and ruined the quiet calm they kept up since the bank.

But he really wanted to fuck with her, and he would, in private. She'd pay for that, and the comments earlier because he loved getting her going and then making her squirm.

Riddick walked passed them not wanting to start laughing. "Go on there you. Run if you can but you cannot hide." She said in Arabic and he saluted her with his finger and went on shaking his head laughing.


	66. With this ring I thee wed

Hot off the presses ladies!!!!!

All those who have been so supportive of me please see my profile and email me with your address so we can start. Rose, I am going to send it to a vin site, imagine Vin emailing me with a comment.

I w o u l d j u s t be a squishy mess.........

And I would post it. so fast your heads would spin!!!!

As promised. Toombs and the gang reach the Talos system. We see the bad guys....

There's a wedding... And some twists.... will update again tonight!

Dedicated to Prancergirl 002, soca angel 268, sita, rose jadedrose 01 and the VIN MAN.

* * *

Later that afternoon Jack was in the kitchen, she was dressed strangely but Riddick didn't mind. She was a creature of habit and she wanted to look a certain way for her friend. She wore green linen pants embroidered with gold, gold sandals and a matching tunic that came flowed nicely around her hips. She wore a loose fitting head scarf like she had earlier on, in deep green and it set off her eyes even more than she did when she wore other colors.

Riddick still wore his contacts and clothes from earlier and marveled at the colors. He had been without the ability to see these things for so long that he never got tired of how they looked, or made him feel.

Jack wore her hair up under the veil and he came up behind her as she sang something in Arabic while she cooked.

Jack was a definitely a creature of habit. "Mrs. Riddick?" he said smug. He'd tried out those words aloud when he was alone just to hear how it sounded and smiled when he said it to her.

She turned around and giggled looking at him and rolling her eyes. "Yes, my lord?"

"Teasing me with the food?" he said coming up behind her. _Or with your voice, or those hips swaying while you sing, or that damn fine ass? I gotta think straight…_

"Tonight I cook to make passions burn, the blood boil. It's all about fire." She told him sprinkling spice on the meat and singing.

"Venetian strawberries." He said licking one and popping it into his mouth. "I remember these." _And the fun we had all night after eating them...._

"I do too... Hey, don't touch those. They're for desert. Don't make me punish you." she said smiling. _DOWN BOY._

"Promises, promises baby." He growled grabbing her hips. "Can't get enough of you."

"I heard." She said squirming. "We did well today. I send a message to Farad and he's going to pay. Confirmed the DNA on you and he was very pleased. I told him to expect us in a month. Now we wait for the money to hit."

"Jack, it's gonna get dangerous now. I've been looking at the stats on the Swede. He's gonna be the problem. He comes after you, take him down, anyway you can. If you can't, run. I mean it. I can't lose you."

"I know. Do me a favor?" she asked as he played with the chain on her necklaces.

"Yeah." He answered looking lovingly into her eyes.

"Whatever happens, don't panic." She asked him and he laughed.

"I don't panic." He told her playing with her hair.

"You have never had to deal with me before New Mecca and I didn't like it when you hesitated. That's your version of panic. Hesitation can get you killed and Layne can't live without a father."

Then his face went from jovial to hard and calculating in a glance.

"That shit is not happening again Jack. No fucken way. You're not starting to talk like that. We're gonna do this by the numbers, TOGETHER. None of this splitting up shit. That's what got us fucked in the first place. I should have never left you."

Her face, though masked had to agree and he knew it.

There he said it out loud. Her face said nothing. "I should have taken with you with me and left, then you would have never gotten abused, beaten, had to deal with loneliness like I had, then New Mecca would have never happened. No Faisal, no Ziza…" he said nearly shouting.

She looked in his eyes and saw guilt, gut wrenching guilt. "No." she said trying to stop his self hatred. "NO!"

He was shocked to hear her raise her voice to him. His face was angry and he unconsciously fisted his hands at his sides. "Jack. You can't understand what I mean. The things they did to you. I can't fucken stand it."

_You've been through too much…_

"It's OVER." She told him making him sit. "I lived. The scars I have remind me I live. I live because of you; because I believed in you and you delivered. I won't listen to you ripping yourself a new one because of shit that happened. I distinctly remember a speech from earlier today where my best friends bitched at me for thinking the very same thing. So stop it. We're in the endgame now Riddick, and once we're free and clear you'll deliver on that promise."

"Which one was that?" he asked as she stood between his legs and he rested his cheek against her torso wrapping his muscular arms around her.

"Beach, garden, sand between my toes, kids playing on the beach." She told him and she could feel the rumble against her breast bone.

"Done. We just gotta play your favorite game first." He told her looking up.

"Who's the better killer?" she said smiling.

"Yeah. I'm still pissed as hell you want Roper. But I can understand. He likes the pretty girls. I'll be watching just in case it goes south." He told her getting up. "Back to cooking there you."

He grabbed another strawberry and popped into his mouth. "Damn good desert Jack."

"Yes Captain Riddick, marryier of love-struck outlaws." She smirked moving back to the kitchen.

* * *

"Rise and shine kids, we're six hours out of Talos Prime." Announced Toombs to a very groggy crew.

"Could you keep it down asshole?" Metzger said grimacing at the light and booming sound of Toombs' voice. He lifted his head and groaned. "I hate fucken cryo."

Dr. Janis came around with hypos and began injecting everyone so they could recouperate faster. Metzger smiled at the Doc and watched her being observed by Toombs.

_Well look who's been getting laid all this time…_

Dr. Janis, having injected the crew, took her bag and went down towards the lab and sat at her computer composing the following message.

My Dearest Grandchild.

There is no hope greater than mine. We are six hours out of our destination and soon my mission will be over. I long to finally see you and touch your sweet face. I often wonder if you will look like your mother or like your father. I do know that they hold such love for you.

Please be good for them and I will see you soon.

Your grandmother.

She hit the send button just as the crew walked passed going towards their quarters. She hit the hot button; the one she knew would alert Jack if she needed her and she went on her way and began to get some bearings around the rowdy masculine crew.

* * *

Anne stood before Riddick who felt unusually nervous. He wasn't getting married and throughout the ceremony, Anne dressed in a white dress with a white head scarf and veil, and Kalifa in a pair of brown slacks and a pilgrim's robe, and he wondered if he'd missed out not doing this for Jack.

Salim wore traditional pilgrim robes and Riddick felt slightly out of place. Earlier, he asked Jack. _"We're outsiders, and outsiders are okay dressed like that. Anne thought green would be a beautiful color for me and baby you always looked hot in black. Relax."_

He watched Salim hold the holy Quar'an and helped Riddick with the ceremony. In Arabic he translated what Anne was saying:

"I Anne, offer you in myself in marriage in accordance with the instructions of the Holy Quar'an and the Holy Prophet, peace and blessing be upon Him I pledge, in honesty and with sincerity, to be for you and obedient and faithful wife."

He looked at Jack, who wore a far away expression, and he actually heard her sigh. He would ask her later why, but he had an idea. He watched her rock Layne back and forth and coo in his ear and wondered how the hell he had ever gotten so lucky. She put him down, his son fast asleep and continued to watch the ceremony.

Salim, offered Anne to Kalifa who said, translated by his father, "I pledge, in honesty and sincerity, to be for you a faithful and helpful husband."

His eyes never left Anne, as she removed the sheer white veil covering the rest of her face. She looked so shy in the presence of the men before her. She held her hands demurely at her sides and looked only at Kalifa.

Salim gestured to Riddick who knew the little speech he had prepared. Riddick smiled watching her stand in front of him. "As Captain of the Flying Dutchman, I now pronounce you man and wife."

Jack couldn't suppress a clap of her hands when they kissed, in front of Salim. "I am so happy for you!"

She hugged Anne and slapped Kalifa on the shoulder. Salim hugged his new daughter and smiled. "May Allah bring you many years of happiness."

Riddick smiled and sat back crooking his finger towards Jack. "Come here wife."

"As you wish my lord." She said smiling. She walked slowly towards him and when she stood in front of him, he removed her scarf and ran his fingers through her hair.

_Beautiful… _he thought to himself as his eyes closed and his hands rested on her shoulders.

He put his arms around her and watched Salim and Kalifa and Anne talk together. "Was that your first official 'thing' as Captain? So how does it feel to be something more than that word I can't use in your face?"

_Convict. She won't ever call me that again because she loves me… Damn. _

"Fucken awesome Jack." He said looking at her and tapping her nose with his finger. "Have you ever thought about if we did it like that?"

"No, I'm waiting for the one we'll do on that beach, wind in my hair, bare feet in the sand, you in a nice white shirt, untucked, smiling at me dressed in a flowing white dress a little off the shoulder and barely touching the sand, around sunset, those silver lovelies looking at me… Nah, never crossed my mind."

He laughed and kissed her forehead. "Everyone, Jack's cooked something for the bride and groom. Come on, let's go."

* * *

Dr. Janis stood in the med lab and paced. The ruckus that she heard from the mess made her nervous. Toombs was shooting his mouth off and she wanted to not have to listen to the bravado that he was stirring up.

"Now you all know that this is not your garden variety convict. This fish is Richard B. Riddick." Toombs said in his characteristically cocky voice.

"Now you all know that we've got history him and me." Toombs said putting the video on the vid screen. "Grab your panties ladies, this gets a little dicey."

As the gruesome video played Toombs commentated. "The girl is Jack. He saved her off T-2. They've know each other for almost 5 years. Word has it she stayed on New Mecca with Holy man until she got just old enough to get the high hard one. Riddick came back and took her off the planet cause the man she was supposed to marry got itchy."

"Who wouldn't. Damn what a fine piece of ass." He said shortly before they began beating her on the vid screen. "Fucken shame. Only time you fuck up a tight piece of ass like that is when she doesn't pay yaw."

"Be nice Metzger." Roper told him. "That's a fucken human being asshole."

Toombs continued just at the point that Riddick burst open the door. "Now, here's where it gets graceful."

"_Get the fuck away from her." They heard him growl, and watched as he descended upon them. In a cold animalistic fury, all they saw was a flash from his slivery eyes and the glint of steel as he pounced the closest man to him sticking him in the gut and then slashing his throat spraying blood everywhere._

_The initial shock of the first attack was short lived and all that had a hold of Jack grabbed weapons. He looked at them menacingly as his hands went flying to the men that were holding her down. Their incapacitation was quick and he took his time slicing and sticking them until they were a mass of bloody bodies._

_He was splattered with blood and his face, feral and brutal, finished the last brother then looked up at the one man he wanted to kill slowly._

_Faisal grabbed his pants, knowing that his fight was just beginning and armed himself with Jack's knives. His grin of satisfaction graced him when he looked at the unconscious woman._

_His smirk of triumph seemed to enrage Riddick even more. The cold glare that gazed back at him took the steam out him momentarily. When Riddick's eyes darted to Jack, laying there limp and bleeding, her head lolled to one side, signaled Faisal's opportunity to try and kill him._

_How wrong the Pilgrim was thinking that he could best Riddick because of his connection to Jack._

"_Mother fuckers couldn't find your own women, you had to steal mine? Big fucken mistake. You," he said pointing his shiv towards Faisal, "made three mistakes. First," he said moving him away from the bed, "you put your hands on her."_

"_She is mine and I demand your blood for killing my brothers, then I demand hers for this." he spat his chest dripping blood from Jack's slash. His face was pale with pain and Riddick smelled fear on him like a bad cologne._

"Interesting fighting style. I have seen this one before." The Swede said in his characteristic foreign accent. "Kali. It is a very brutal form of fighting. Many black ops soldiers are taught this in order to be able to kill efficiently. I know this fighting well."

"His weakness is the girl." The old man said. He rarely spoke but when he did it was to say something useful instead of mouthing off.

"Yeah, well, the payday for both of them is 2 million. We need them both ALIVE. Dead they are worthless." Toombs informed them.

_Riddick stood there shivs ready and smiled. He remembered what Salim had said… big but slow._

"_Second, you went after her. Mother fucker you need to learn when to quit." He said taunting him with his shivs. "Three, you went and pissed me off by hurting her." He said as they ran at one another._

_Riddick was roughly the same size but in much better shape, and was faster and deadlier. Although Faisal did manage to cut Riddick on his side, Riddick sliced him up the abdomen first making him stagger back._

"_That's to match the one Jack gave you. Except, mine's deeper…" He taunted with an evil grin._

_Faisal, bloodlust so overpowering that he didn't think he could be harmed, lunged at Riddick. It was a tactical mistake too many in his life had made when he was in the slam and he felt good that the stupid fuck had made his job not only easier but more enjoyable._

"_Big mistake motherfucker. This is for Jack!" he said as he buried one of his shivs deep into his back, finally hitting that sweet spot that he had missed when he had attacked Johns all those years ago._

_Faisal dropped to the floor like a bag of cement. Riddick watched him twitch unable to move because he hit the one spot that would paralyze him. He stood back moved a stray hair from Jack's bloody face and moved confidently back towards the object of his hatred and rage. "Now, have you ever wondered how long it takes you to die when you're hemorrhaging from a slice like this?" he growled in his ear, his hands sticky with deep arterial blood as he grabbed him intimately pulling down his trousers and slicing the offending appendage off, throwing it at his feet_

They continued to watch fascinated by Riddick and his style. Everyone sat rapt except for Roper who was so disgusted he walked out, only to be met in the hall by Dr. Janis.

"I couldn't watch it Doc. I couldn't." he told her as they walked towards the lab. "I didn't sign up for that shit. I'm a pilot. I never ever wanted that."

"Danny, I know. I didn't sign up for this either. I wanted only off Hellion Prime and now I'm trapped again."


	67. Talos Prime on approach

When Jack finished clean up the mess she was tired but happy. Anne and Kalifa were married, finally and it only took them mass murder, interplanetary flight, and a convicted murderer as Captain.

When she walked down the hall, having taking off her shoes and heard something she had never in her life expected.

Riddick was singing. She couldn't believe it. His deep baritone voice was so unbelievable to hear.

She crept inside and he was holding Layne in his arms his son's head on his shoulder swaying around the room. She wanted to cry, it was so precious.

"Looking back on the things I've done…I was trying to be someone…" he crooned as his back was turned and she could hear the music playing softly in the back ground. "Playing my part, and kept you in the dark… Now let me show you the shape of my heart…"

When he swung around and saw her standing in the doorway with a smirk on her face he tried to recover, "Music off."

She stood and tried to keep a straight face. "So."

_Fuck, busted…_

"He was crying and I tried everything, so I put the disc you had in your player on and this came on and he seemed to calm down." He tried to say but sounded guilty.

"Never thought you liked "this" kind of music. Not very manly. Bunch of poser boys singing. But you go on, don' let me interrupt this little concert. You actually are quite good. Very sexy."

"Shut it Jack." He said and his face was red, with embarrassment or rage for being caught singing Backstreet boys, she didn't know but fucking with him is fun.

"You can sing for me anytime baby." She said coming to him as he put Layne down.

"I," he said pulling her by the arm and throwing her on the bed roughly, "said," he punctuated by moving on top of her and pressing himself against her, "shut it."

"What if I don't?" She asked looking at him with his dark aroused eyes staring back at her.

"I won't let you come." He said in a low growl against her neck as he kissed it.

"Shutting up." She said quickly as he moved his hands to remove her slacks.

* * *

When Jack awoke a few hours later it was to the sound of her laptop beeping. "Shit!" She said quietly as she padded over towards the desk wearing Riddick's shirt.

Janis' message arrived uuencoded and looked as if it was written quickly. "Riddick!" she said coming towards the bed. "Wake up we're in trouble. They're three days ahead of schedule. FUCK."

He sat up rubbed his face and pulled his pants on. "When did you get this?"

"Now. It's dated 4 and half hours ago. We've got two hours before they reach the surface." She said running her fingers through her hair. "But hey, the money's there. We need to go to the bank when it opens in three hours. They'll be on the surface and I can't believe I slept through this. FUCK!"

"Jack you had a reason for sleeping. I wore you out." He said smug. "Send Janis a message, tell her to stall at least two hours. Then tell her at dusk meet us at the H street Bar. I'll send Salim. Man needs a mission anyway. Plus he knows her."

Dearest Mother,

With the wolves just outside our garden we _must_ be aware of them. We **need** **to know**. _Baba S _will be so happy **when** you are finished with your mission. _H_is mo_st_ fervent _d_esire is to **_see_** you again. Let _us k_now when you're finished, when it is time to move on. Kasi**m** and Ali s**e**nd thei**r** love and we **c**annot wait to **s**ee you…

Our love,

Your daughter.

"Let me see the message." Riddick said putting on a black wife beater and his mech's pants and boots.

NEED TO KNOW WHEN SEE MERCS

BABA S H ST DUSK

"Send it." He said as he kissed her on the forehead and walked out into the dark ship.

He walked down the hall and banged on Salim's door. "Wake up, time to kill people." He then walked down to Kalifa's door, "Come on. Move it."

He felt bad about getting into Kalifa's business especially on his wedding night but four hours was enough to make up for lost time. They had work to do.

Jack looked into the mirror and tried to give herself courage. She had to believe that they would be able to pull this off. She brushed her hair, ran some water over her face and dressed for war. She came out of her room with her black mech's pants, her boots and a black long sleeve shirt. "Anne. Take little guy, and if he gets upset, Sasha will play my music I made for him."

Then she headed towards the med lab. "Sasha, show time."

She placed her new laptop on the table and sat Indian style typing the keys. She jacked into Toombs ship. Roper was doing a diagnostic, she backed into his hard drive, bypassing it, giving him the all clear signal. She patched into the infrared showing Janis in the med lab, she typed directly on her screen.

Janis msg recd pls find way to make it to H st. bar dusk. Are u safe?

Type on screen I can see you. Sit down and breathe.

_Jack they're going over tapes from New Mecca. Big Swede is looking to go after you. They know you are his only weakness. Be careful._

Janis, keep them on ship two more hours. Need to go to bank and retrieve money. Got to get the bank. Keep them on ship…

_Will try, Janis out. _

"FUCK!" she said hitting the table.

"Jack, I sense you are upset. What can I do?" Sasha asked as Jack paced back and forth.

"Sasha, we need to keep the boys off the planet until I get back from the bank. They can't know about the money. We need to get it, got any suggestions?"

"Slow them down, reduce their speed, you do have control of the ship don't you?"

"Yeah, but Roper's at the controls. He'll know something's up." Jack said to her computer.

"Tell Janis to keep him busy, no one else would notice a slight slowing, maybe enough to give you time to do what you have to before the big plan goes into phase 3."

Janis, get Roper off the bridge…

_Why?_

Because I got to fuck with the nav computer and he needs to be off the bridge. Hurry we don't have a lot of time.

_Okay. Will do, how long do you need?_

Five minutes to slow you down and five to cover it up.

_Fine, I will. GO dim lights again when you start. Janis out._

Jack began a complex set of commands and found after about a minute she was in the nav computer's brain. She had only a few moments and she figured give Janis five minutes to get to the bridge, and another ten to convince him.

* * *

Janis walked briskly to the bridge and found Roper running around getting ready for their landing in two hours time. "Hey Danny. What's up?"

"Nothing, just doing my fucken job." He said surly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked looking at him. He was upset.

"I'm fucken pathetic. Toombs is right. I should have never looked at her. Man, I'm a fucken idiot. Two mil split between 7 ways, I should just shut my mouth."

"Wanna get a cup of coffee? I'm buying?" she offered.

"Nah, got a lot of work to do up here." He said flipping switches and slamming things.

"Danny, listen, you don't have to do this. You can get off this ship when we land and walk away." She said looking at the lights above, nothing…

The clock was ticking and she had to convince him…

"I know, but I need the money, and I said I would."

"You need to come with me. I need to check your head, it still hasn't healed. Damn, I think it may even be infected. My you're warm." She said feeling is forehead.

"I have been feeling kinda tired since we woke up." He admitted. _That's it Danny come on walk away from the console._

"I got something for that, and when you get to the surface you can have a good time, you don't want to be stuck in here with a fever and shaking like a leaf do you?"

"No, let's go." He said thinking of the lay he was due.

* * *

"Come on Janis, get his ass of the bridge." Jack said with her fingers on the button.

"Jack." Riddick said bringing in coffee. "What are you doing?"

"We're out of time before they hit the planet and I need to buy us some time. Thank you. God I need caffeine. Those red blips are the crew. Janis just got Roper off the bridge. And not a second too soon. I need to slow them .15 to give us an extra hour. That small amount should do the trick and not alert them to tampering."

"Get dressed once it's done. I need to get us to the bank. We're just withdrawing the money on a chip?" he asked rubbing her back as she hunched over and made the calculations.

"Yes. Give me a minute." She said dimming the lights on the ship.

She saw that the men were still in the mess and Roper and Janis were in the lab. She backed out slowly and locked out the speed on the nav computer.

When Jack came back out she was dressed in a deep blue pants suit with a white shell underneath. Her deep blue headscarf was on and she had only a few moments to give Layne to his auntie before Riddick came in his black suit and another white shirt.

"Ready?" He asked looking at her. She looked scared.

* * *

I look at her and I can smell her fear. "Jack." I tell her looking into her eyes. "Breathe."

She's jumpy. I know the feeling. It isn't just us now. We've got others in the shit with us. "Jack, look at me."

She's gotta focus. "I am. It's just I want this over."

"You and me both Jack. Just think, after this, I'll take you to Talos 4 and we'll get a house on the beach and figure out what we want to do after that."

"Promise?" she asks walking down the gang plank.

I'm in bodyguard mode, cause people can see us. "Without Anne are you gonna speak in English."

"No, you are." She tells me. But I forgot I have the shades. Great idea Jack.

"We get the money and make it back before 930. Then we wait till dusk. I have a feeling those mercs are gonna cut loose for a few hours. They've been in cryo for a month they're going to need a little female company.

"How do you know?" she asks me, what a fucken question. But I'll answer it because she's worrying again.

"They have dicks Jack, it's a genetic thing." I tell her.

"But you held off for a long time why can't they?" she asks me.

"They're not me."


	68. The prelude to a dance of knives

Dedicated to Gymp and Eternal Celestial.

So faithful and I love you for it, thanks for keeping me so motivated. -Jackie

* * *

Jack and Riddick walked into the bank with a confident stride. Jack had switched to business mode and put on a demure smile. Riddick hated it instantly, like he hated the voice she used, or the subservient demeanor she portrayed. 

Mr. Madison stood and smiled because Jack had smiled. Riddick noticed her change before he could move. She was subtle and observant both traits he admired. "Ms. Farad, how good to see you again."

Jack began in Arabic and Riddick moved closer and held her at the small of her back escorting her to the waiting chair. "My lady wishes to tell you that she is also happy to see you."

He was all business too, and she smiled. Then spoke quietly and looked at Riddick. "My lady," he began remembering what Anne had told him about how rich Pilgrim women were to be addressed, "requests the withdrawal of all funds from her account. She has taken to travel and wishes to be able to have the money readily available."

His shock was plain as the bulbous nose on his face. He stammered at the thoughts of losing over a million from his bank. "That will take a bit of time. We will need to assemble the money into a briefcase for you."

Jack looked as serene as he had ever seen her. "How long before the money will be assembled?" Riddick asked him.

"One hour." The banker croaked typing on his screen.

Riddick wished he could communicate with her and she felt his unease at the fact that they would be removing cash. Riddick listened to Jack and then wanted to do nothing more than smile a big shit eating grin. "My lady wishes you to transfer the money into this coded account. She asks if you would do this."

Jack slid the paper across the desk and Madison took it, not before she smiled and touched his hand. He recognized the banking codes for his associate bank on Talos 4. Jack turned to Riddick who immediately sensed his relief and watched his jaw for signs of distress, she saw none and she asked him in Arabic, "Did you think I didn't have a back up plan, come on this is me we're talking about. You didn't think I'd know what and where your chip came from? Love you big guy, you're gonna be rich. This bank is an off shore account bank. Anonymity is a big deal to them. Practically un-hackable."

"What did she say?" Madison asked Riddick as he finished his conversation with Jack.

"My lady is pleased with you especially and is recommending to her father that he conduct more business with this bank." Riddick said smugly. _Try and top that one Jack!_

Within minutes the transfer was made and the account closed. Jack rose and said in accented English, "Thank you; you were very kind to me. I shall not forget such a kindness."

He actually blushed and Riddick watched his wife smile and ooze charm. "It was my pleasure my lady."

Jack put her sunglasses back on and walked with Riddick close behind her. In Arabic she began to speak and Riddick was so thankful for the shades to translate. "Riddick, you are the most frightening man on this planet. I would have loved to see him squirm but carrying around 1.25 million plus our 50 thousand was something I didn't want to have to do. I thought by putting the money into your account, the one that you set up before coming back for me, would be the easiest alternate in case we couldn't get the chips. I just wondered why he was willing to dispense with that much cash."

Riddick looked at her thinking and in perfect Arabic; he replied grinning like a fool, "You amaze me thinking on your feet like that."

"When did you learn Arabic?" she asked stunned.

"Been hanging with Salim and Kalifa, had to happen sometime." He said smug.

They both laughed and walked to the spaceport. "Time to disappear for a few hours. We've got all afternoon to plan logistics for tonight's snatch and grab." He told her as they walked back up the gang plank.

* * *

Toombs, Roper, Metzger, Cavanaugh, Janis and The Swede walked down the gang plank of their ship, the men oozing with testosterone and need of a good lay. 

"Doc," Toombs said smiling. "Wanna go have that drink now?"

"Where you off to? I think I'm gonna walk around. How long do we have before we need to get to work?"

Toombs thought for a moment. "Four hours. Figure we can start once we all got that itch out of our systems." He said really trying not to offend the lady.

"Then I'll meet you at the H Street Bar at midnight, then we'll have that drink, what do you say?" she said winking.

"Bet your ass Doc." He said smiling a broad shit eating grin. "Come on boys. Let's get some."

"Daniel?" Janis asked. "Where will all you go after your liaison with the more tender sex?"

"Equinox. It's a techno club. Metzger and I like it so we all decided to meet there at around nine." He said suddenly shy.

"I'll see you there. I wonder if I'll like the music." She said smiling.

"You might." He said and ran to the men who looked more like pack animals walking down the street.

* * *

The suns were setting and Janis walked down the long street and noticed that people seemed to gravitate to the streets once the suns set. The deep black of the night sky was creeping towards her and she suddenly felt a chill in the air. 

On the corner, four blocks down, she noticed a large pitcher of beer lit up as a neon sign. She didn't see any other bar and when she walked in she immediately felt as though this was the one she was meant to come to.

Salim sat at the bar dressed much differently than he was used to. Black pants, an old leather jacket and a worn t-shirt made him indistinguishable to the other patrons, but that was his intent.

When the bar door opened and Janis walked in, he held his breath taking her in. She was as beautiful as he remembered. It was not so long ago that she had smiled sadly at him, trying to be comforting where there was none.

"_There isn't much I can do for her Salim. I wish I could but the illness has taken what strength she has and I cannot stop the shutdown of her body." She told him coming out of his wife's sick room._

_Kalifa and Yasmine sat on a couch off in another room, both sobbing at the impending loss of their mother. _

"_Allah has given her to me for nearly twenty years, I cannot be bitter that her time has come. I thank you for what you have been able to do in order to keep her as pain free as possible." He said looking into her sad brown eyes. _

He also remembered the funeral of Janis' husband. He had known Abdullah for many years and recounted the times when he knew she had been thankful for the veil.

_Janis stood stoic as they laid her husband into the ground. With her three daughters, she held in whatever grief she had and Salim knew it. He approached her and she felt his gaze._

"_May Allah bring you peace Raphaella. I hope that if you have needs in future that you aren't as distant as you have been. Endeavor to know that I am your friend." He told her and walked away hoping she would seek him out if she needed to._

He sat on the bar stool nursing a drink when a familiar voice broke him from his recollection. She sat at the bar and he walked over. "Can I buy you a drink pretty one?"

She looked up and he noticed her hands shaking. "I'm meeting someone."

Her smile lit up her face when she saw him and he was pleased that she had come. "So it would seem. Maybe I could help pass the time until they arrive."

"Sure." She said to Salim, then to the bartender, "I'll have whatever he's having."

"Would you prefer to sit somewhere less…exposed?" he asked gesturing with his hand.

"How kind," she said getting up with her drink, "I'd be delighted."

* * *

Roper sat at the table the others had gotten and nursed his beer. "To Riddick, May that asshole be easy to find, and a whole lot less trouble than his girlfriend, back on New Mecca." 

They raised their glasses and laughed. "Got me a pocket full of cash and an itchy trigger finger if you know what I mean." Metzger said looking at a voluptuous brunette pole dancing in front of him. "Come on little lady, dance for me."

The dancer, clad in only a thong, stepped down and sat on his lap resting her hands on his shoulders and teasing him with her breasts.

Johansson, known as the Swede had livelier game. A redhead with athletic arms and a firm backside had been teasing him from the pole and when he waved a hundred in front of her she stepped down and pulled him towards the side door.

Toombs on the other hand couldn't find a woman he wanted. His thoughts drifted elsewhere and he was kind of pissed. "What?" he growled as someone tapped his shoulder.

A dark haired beauty looking remarkably familiar asked him if there was anything she could do to improve his mood. "Man at the bar said you needed a friend." She told him. "My name's Janis." She said with some prompting from Cavanaugh who just raised his glass of whiskey and smirked.

Toombs smiled and went on his way. "Better get it while you're young, and try not to grow a conscience while we're gone."

"Yeah, whatever man." Roper said falling pray to another brunette, this one tattooed and had creamy skin.

* * *

Riddick heard the shower going and he knew that he could as easily interrupt as not but he knew Jack was getting herself ready to go kill people and sometimes, to keep an even head, you needed some time by yourself. 

When she emerged she was wearing a pair of cognac colored leather pants, and a creamy version of the top she'd worn when they went out the night of their date. She had a low woven belt around her waist, and he knew that was so she could go armed. She wore no jewelry save a pair of hoop earrings and a few bracelets on her wrists. She wore a different fragrance, a harder more erotic scent he didn't dislike, but knew because of the mission they were on, he'd never smell again. She'd make sure of that. She didn't want to remember that night, or anything associated with that night, just like when she cut Faisal all that time ago, she'd burn it and go on from there.

She wore high heeled boots and smoothed the leather against her backside and looked at her reflection. In the darkness he continued to stare. She wore her hair back and loose, and her make up was a bit harsher but still made her look incredible.

"Can't make yourself ugly, it just ain't possible Jack. You'll be hot no matter what you wear."

"Don't look at me." She warned. "This is for someone else, and not for you. I can't have you liking this because I don't even like it. I feel like a whore."

"You're no whore Jack, I told you back then and I mean it more now. Eye candy is what you need to be so we can draw out these bastards and get the job done. And you look very sweet baby."

He put his hands on her waist, running them up her ribs and cupping her breasts. "Remind me when this is all done, to wash you myself, if that makes you feel any better. I'll get you all soapy, rub-that-smell-right-off-you. Deal?"

"Deal. So, you think that Roper will go for me?" she asked suddenly unsure.

"Does this," he told her pulling her hand and resting it on his hardness, "answer your question?"

"I guess that does." She said bending over and picking up a towel she'd thrown on the floor. His view of her ass in those pants made him groan. "Stop staring at my ass Riddick, you see it enough naked what makes it so nice clothed?"

"Cause wrapped sometimes gives us alot more to fantasize about." He told her pulling her close. "Love you Jack."

"Love you too Riddick. Let's go play who's the better killer." She told him grabbing her leather coat and the tranq gun.


	69. Equinox

**Disclaimer: These next two chapters are EXTREMELY VIOLENT**

**You have been warned.**

* * *

Kalifa stood in the mess along with Anne who rocked Layne in her arms. He was dressed in black and carried a pulse pistol and several knives. His eyes closed when he saw Jack. "May Allah protect you Jack because any man who comes near you will want to touch you." 

"May Allah give me strength to embrace the Adeni." She said plainly and everyone laughed. "Hey, I meant that."

"The Adeni embraced you a long time ago Jack. Do not pretend that little part of you doesn't like to show off." Anne said putting Layne in his bassinet.

She smirked at her. "That's right Jack, shake that ass and you'll get a bite." Riddick smirked smacking her leather clad backside.

"Ready to play my brother?" _Who's the better killer…_Kalifa said to Riddick handing him one of the hand held Sashas. There were four of them, one for each of them. Jack had modified them to be able to communicate with one another. She had already gotten word from Salim that he had Janis and that they would be going to a techno club called Equinox.

"Let's go." He said grabbing Jack by the hand. "Jack, keep in mind that I'm gonna be watching. So shaking that ass is gonna be distracting for me. If it gets dicey or you can't handle it all you gotta do is say the word."

Jack smiled and put her hand out. In it was a very small ear piece. "Wear this and we can talk to each other. It's a microphone and earpiece all in one. It's one of my many geek ridden gadgets." She said putting it into her ear. You could barely notice it and Riddick did the same.

"Jack, you need to get a hobby." He quipped looking at her.

"You are my hobby babyif haven't you figured that out by now. And may I say you are looking very sexy tonight. Damn, I might just shake my ass just to see how far I could get making you nuts."

"Nuts, now that's a word." Kalifa chimed in as they walked down the gang plank. "This is exactly that."

"Jack." Riddick warned knowing exactly what she meant. "Be good."

"No baby, tonight I'm gonna be very, very naughty." She quipped as Kalifa rolled his eyes.

"Get a room will you!" he said shaking his head.

"We've got one, thank you very much." She told him sticking her tongue out. "Use it every night, sometimes more than once right baby?"

"That's enough you two, let's focus on the plan. Equinox is the staging ground. We can observe and lure them. Roper first. Then Cavanaugh and Metzger then that leaves the Swede." He told them in Arabic so no one would be the wiser.

"Kill or capture?" Kalifa said wondering.

"Silent kills. We don't need this getting messy. Roper is gonna be the easiest. Janis said that he's gonna be there and he's feeling guilty and you use that Jack. Play on his weaknesses. Metzger is his partner in crime and they're usually together. Be careful of him, if something goes wrong, or you want me to help the safe word should be something they won't understand. How about haras? That will let me know that you need help. Otherwise I stay in the back ground. Kalifa will watch for my signal. Get him alone and lead him outside, we'll do the rest. You're just the bait."

"Thanks a lot." She smirked handing him her gun. "Hold onto this. I doubt I'll be able to hide this very well.."

"A lady with a gun and an ass like that, I must have died and gone to heaven." He smirked taking the pistol and holstering it under his coat.

"Whatever makes your dick hard sweet thang. I just love a man who can use his hardware." She quipped getting another eyeball roll from Kalifa.

* * *

"I have missed you my friend. I worried for many weeks hoping that you had not come to any harm." Salim told Janis as they walked towards the ship. 

"You are safe now and that is all that matters. Jack has told me of the dangers you faced when you were on that ship and I thank Allah he has delivered you to us safely."

"I worried for weeks when I found out the real mission they had in mind. I was not told but I am glad I found out and was able to warn you. Jack told me about Yasmine. I am so sorry that you lost her."

"Yes, but in the process I gained a son and a daughter, and Kalifa has remarried. So Allah in the midst of my pain has blessed me." he said looking into her eyes with a deep fondness.

"Let us go and be safe. I have a feeling your services will be needed before this long night is over."

"Yes," she agreed a sad look on her face, "I do believe you may be right."

* * *

Three blocks from the club Jack stopped allowing Kalifa to go in first. Riddick stood next to a wall and looked at her. "You ready Jack?" 

"As ready as I'll ever be." She told him holding onto the lapel of his coat. "I love you, no matter what happens."

"Keep your head up, observe everything and everyone and remember the golden rule." He said kissing her neck and then her lips.

She whimpered drinking up his scent and the feel of his hands on her body. "Stick by you when the dying starts. I remember."

"Good girl. Now go and make me proud." He said swatting her ass and watching her smirk walking off.

The club was just as she expected. Nine o'clock had come and gone and she knew that they would be there. She checked her coat and walked to the bar.

"Big guy, they're at the bar, Roper and Metzger and at the table about five feet is the Swede, can't seem to find the old man or Toombs." She said quietly as she went to the bar with a big grin on her face.

A melodic techno beat played and she let herself feel the music.

"I see you kid, go order a drink and get dancing. Can't wait to see you shake that ass." He told her in her ear and she smirked as she walked up to the bartender. "Nice Jack, that shirt really shows off your back, damn fine view from here. Check your six."

"Hey little lady what can I get you?" asked a good looking bartender from behind the bar.

"Valysian Fire Whiskey. I'll take a shot. Need something to get my blood moving. I'm gonna dance." She said loud enough for the men at the bar to hear her. She leaned her ass out and rested her elbows on the bar and smiled. "Gonna let go tonight. Need to have some fun."

"Good Jack that got their attention." Riddick said from the sidelines. "Kalifa is in position at your 8 o'clock."

Roper and Metzger got a look at her and took their time drinking her in. When they watched her down the shot and lick the shot glass shouting, "WAHOO!" and slamming it down Riddick smiled remembering her birthday. "Damn fine whiskey."

She shook her hair out a little and cracked her neck turning and facing the dance floor. The floor was so full of people Riddick would have a hard time finding her once she got into the throng. She eyed a box where dancers stood and looked at him. He nodded his accent and she walked towards one.

On one of the large boxes was a blonde dancing. "You got any room up there for me?"

The leggy blonde pulled her up and Riddick smiled. It was gonna be a fun night to watch. "My name's Candice what's yours?"

"Adeni." Jack said getting a chuckle from Riddick. A song with a pulsing beat came on and Riddick checked their marks for any signs she had their attention.

He watched Jack close her eyes and start to move. Her arms went up and she began to move to the music slowly and Riddick was looking between her and the marks. "You enjoying the view baby?" she said as she moved her hips side to side moving her hands down to the music.

"Oh yeah. You know me, I like to watch. They're on your six right now. Shake that ass baby."

She moved her arms in tandem with her hips grinding to the music and smiling as she saw his silver eyes glint in the darkness. She slapped her cheeks and continued to dance. She snapped her fingers then smacked them again just because she knew he liked it.

"Damn Jack, you try that at home and you're so punished."

"Promises, promises." She said looking up and feeling her torso with her hands. "Jesus, look at the Swede he's fucken huge."

Riddick's eye went to the bar and he couldn't miss him. He dressed in camo pants, combat boots and a black wife beater on. "Focus on Roper. Both him and Metzger are staring. Smile Jack and keep shaking that ass."

Jack turned towards the bar dancing close with the blonde who enjoyed someone else who could dance as well as she could. She stared at Roper for a moment and smiled.

"Man, she just looked at you." Metzger said as Roper stared at Jack. "What body art! DAMN, she's hot."

"She's staring at you Metzger. Not me."

Jack smiled and winked at them slapping her ass and turning back around. "Now if that ain't a fucken invitation I don't know what is."

"Riddick," Jack said turning back towards him. "What if he's not the one who bites?"

"We'll adapt. You need to keep an eye on him. By the way, very hot dancing baby."

"You know you want to fuck me up against that wall don't you?" she said trailing her hand down to her pelvis and rocking.

"Every minute of every day princess." He told her smiling. "I'd lift you and drop you on my cock plunging it real deep."

"Talk dirty to me baby." She quipped as she watched Metzger and Roper move to a table just off the dance floor.

"If I have to." He said as she began to listen to him along with the song. She closed her eyes and smiled with an evil grin.

Sipping their drinks Metzger was definitely getting aroused and so was Roper. She was so beautiful and man could she dance. She was so into dancing he could swear she was getting off. Her lips parted and she licked her lips and both Roper and Metzger had to shift in their seats. She looked down and winked at Roper.

"She wants you man. Go or I will." Metzger said getting antsy.

"Jack he's ready to move." Riddick told her as he watched them from the railing.

"What if it's Metzger? Roper is shy. I can see that and Metzger is the aggressive one." Jack said swinging around so they didn't see her talking.

"Go with it. Remember Haras if you need to don't hesitate to say it. The Swede is doing shots at the bar. Toombs and the old man are there too."

"Stay out of sight. I see Kalifa." She whispered turning back. "Show time baby. I love you."

"Love you too Jack." He said and watched her work.

She smiled and crooked her finger. Roper looked at her and smirked as if to say, me? He shook his head. "No, I'll watch."

"Fine with me, I like it that way. So watch." She said looking towards the railing briefly and cocking her head. "What about you big guy?"

Metzger walked up to the box and grabbed her hips and helped her down. "Big strong man, can you dance as good as you look?"

"Pretty girls like you always like it when we watch." He said while Riddick picked up the conversation. He was furious that he put his hands on Jack but knew it wouldn't be long before he got to kill him.

_Keep that shit up asshole, I'll get my chance soon…_

"Wanna play? My name's Rani. It means," she started as his hands rested on her hips.

"Princess." He said looking at her breasts when she leaned back. She turned around and faced Riddick who looked as if he wanted to rip the man's balls off. "You've a great ass Rani. Did anyone ever tell you that?"

"On occasion. You dance so well, makes me feel hot and tingly all over." She said leaning against his chest. "It's like fucking standing up, except we still got clothes on."

"I can remedy that baby, just tell me when." He said moving against her. Riddick had his hands fisted at his sides.

"As long as I can get a piece of that one too. Feeling right fiery tonight. Got an itch, I need to scratch. If you know what I mean." She said pointing towards Roper who got an eyeful. She crooked her finger and almost pulled him towards her. "And you both look good enough to eat."

"She's gonna do us both man, get your ass over here." Metzger pleaded.

She looked at Roper and grabbed his arms and pulled her to him, "My name's Rani, what's yours?"

"D-Daniel." He answered. Metzger gave him some room and went over to talk to the Swede. "You're beautiful."

"Thank you. Shy aren't you?" she asked as he tried to dance. "Relax, no one's gonna hurt you. What's the matter?"

Riddick whispered in her ear. "That's a lie Jack, remember he's a fucken merc and he's gonna die tonight. Get on with it."

"Got a lot on my mind." He said as she leaned against him and danced. He put his hands on her waist and felt her skin. It was just as he thought it would feel, soft. "I admire beautiful art and your back is covered. Really nice tattoo."

"So Daniel, what's on your mind?" She said smiling as she leaned to look at him. So young, and nice looking she thought.

Riddick whispered in her ear. "Jack he's a merc, don't get all soft now."

"Let's get a drink shall we Daniel, I'm getting thirsty." She suggested. "Come on, we might want to relax a bit. You look all tense, and that's not good."

She grabbed his hand and walked towards the bar where the Swede, Metzger and the old man stood. Toombs was talking to Cavanaugh and failed to notice her. "Who's the wall in combat boots? You all this big?" she laughed as both Kalifa and Riddick kept a sharp eye out.

"Little lady you'd be surprised how anatomically correct we are." Metzger said smiling and downing a shot.

She laughed loudly and caught The Swede's attention. "Well, look what Roper found, an willing female. I'm impressed."

"Impressed. Hardly a word I would use." Jack quipped staring him down like he was two feet tall. "You need to find your own company. Leave him alone."

"Ballsy too. Damn Roper she's a brave one to say that to me." he said staring down at her. "And be so little."

"Big guys like you don't scare me." she said cocking her head. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

He laughed a loud booming chuckle. "She's got balls the size of a bull. Good luck trying to nail her."

"She's offered to nail us both." Metzger said triumphantly.

"Only if you behave." She said winking to the darkness. "One at a time, come on, let's get that party started. You keep trying big guy, maybe you'll get lucky if you go out and buy you some charm."

Jack turned around and he grabbed her wrist. She twisted him so fast he landed on this ass and looked up at her, she took the boot and ground the heel into his crotch. "Better luck next time sweet thang, I made my choice. Now be a good cro-mag and fuck off."

Riddick wanted to kiss her. "Damn Jack. That was fucken amazing. You need to get the out now. Kalifa is already outside."

He was livid looking up at her. No one had dared to touch him let along get the drop on him.

"Come on boys. Let me get my coat." She said pulling on Metzger and Ropers' coats. She had her arm around Roper making sure he came with her and walked towards the coat room.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Toombs said drinking. "Some asshole get the drop you?"

"A little girl. I can't fucken believe it. A 120 pound girl took me down like a professional." He said completely stunned. He sat back on the stool and ordered a drink, a double to wallow in.

* * *

Outside Riddick watched Jack walk arm and arm with the two men who looked very intent on a gang bang. "Keep them going, just another block. Remember Metzger is the pro, Roper he's just a kid." Riddick said softly in her ear. 

"So," she said to them both, "What brings you to Talos Prime?"

"Business, and a little pleasure." Metzger told her as he grabbed her ass. "Damn you got a fantastic ass. You'd be expensive."

"So I guess you're the charmer and he's the strong silent type? What kind of business?" she asked looking up at Metzger. Daniel continued to stare at her tattoo on the back of her neck.

"We gotta pick up two marks. Why?" he answered as they hit a alley way. "Wanna come back to our ship and party in style?"

"Guys, you go, I don't feel much like partying anymore. This whole business is bad. I'm out." Daniel said going to walk away. "It's wrong. I don't care how much money we'll make. I'm done."

"Where the fuck are you going?" Metzger said putting Jack against a wall and nuzzling her neck.

"I'm done. Go, I don't want anything more to do with getting the marks. I'm out. Have a nice fucken life."

"Hello Daniel. Redemption comes a little late for you my friend." Kalifa said as Roper rounded the corner. Kalifa, who heard everything, waited till he turned was out of sight and knocked him unconscious. He'd get to him later, Metzger was his and Riddick had him in his sights as well.

"I guess it's just you and me baby. Damn you must work out." She said as his sweaty skin was on her. She suppressed a shudder as he talked while he pawed at her.

"So, you were saying about that fucking?" He started looking at her breasts.

"Who's the mark?" she asked looking at him.

"Why you so fucken curious bitch?" He spat as his hand pinned her against the brick. "None of your fucken business."

He spun her around and pushed her against the wall. "Now put up and shut up."

"I'm fucken curious," she said bringing her foot up between his legs and connected with his crotch sending him to his knees. She grabbed him and shoved him to the ground and he watched as she turned around, "cause I'm gonna fucken kill you asshole. No one comes after me and mine. HARAS."

Riddick appeared out of nowhere and Kalifa rounded the corner carrying Roper's unconscious body with him. "Welcome to your nightmare mother fucker."

"Riddick, you slick fuck." Metzger said as Riddick came at him with his two shivs out and ready. He went to grab his pulse pistol and found it wasn't there. "Long time no see fish."

"Looking for this?" she said holding the pistol against his head.

"Fucken tease." He spat and she kicked his head causing him to spit blood. "Fucken skank. Who the fuck are you??"

They heard voices coming towards them and Jack fired the pulse pistol at him, blowing him against the wall. "The name's Jack asshole, and I'm nobody's skank. One down, three to go."

"Damn Jack." Kalifa said putting Roper next to Metzger. "Shit, someone's coming. Get ready to fight Riddick."

"Go for the sweet spot baby." She told him as he threw the tranq gun at her.

"Kalifa, take the old man out. Jack shoot anything that comes at you with the traq gun, if the Swede gets too close, shoot him with the pistol." Riddick said taking his position.

"Where the fuck is Metzger?" Toombs asked coming down the street hitting the spot where the alley met the street.

"Probably fucking her against a dumpster." Cavanaugh said walking. "You smell that?"

"Smells like a pulse weapon's been fired. Fuck!" Toombs said walking a little quicker. "METZGER!"

"Look who we got here?" The Swede said with a hearty bellow as he came from the other side around the corner Kalifa came with Roper, he had Jack by the throat and watch as he picked her up and dangled her by her feet."

He dragged her into the deserted street and toyed with her. "Fucken bitch. I knew I recognized your ass somewhere."

"Well I'll be damned. Hello Jack." Toombs said walking up to her and laughing.

She proceeded to kick him in the nuts sending him to his knees. She pulled up her arm and shot him twice with the tranq gun. The Swede punched her in the stomach making her drop the gun and scream in pain. He laughed and shook her in his big hands.

Before the lights went out, she wheezed, "Hello Harold, how's it hanging?"

She kicked and flailed as Riddick and Kalifa came out of the darkness weapons drawn. "Put her down merc." Riddick warned the glint of steel coming at him.

He dropped her and laughed, "Come on convict, show me what you got."

"Big mistake asshole." Jack croaked taking her knife out.

A single gunshot rang out and Riddick watched as blood sprayed him. He flinched when he realized whose it was.

_Not Jack, no GOD NO! NOT JACK!!!!!! _

"Riddick?" she said as she looked up and saw her blood on him. Her eyes went wide with fear and she fell to her knees and then face down and the sound of his roar could be heard so loudly that even the sound of the club was non existent.


	70. I'm gonna make you an offer

"NO! JACK!!!!!!" he said as the Swede laughed maniacally.

He ran to her as the Swede stood waiting, laughing and taunting him. "JACK!" he shouted as he rushed to her.

A gun shot twice before Cavanaugh could get a bead on Riddick. Cavanaugh fell backward and hit the ground with a loud crack and thud.

Riddick and Kalifa looked up just in time to see Roper sitting up holding a pulse pistol, still smoking.

"JACK!" he said wiping the blood from her face. Her chest was covered with blood and he put his hand against her wound and saw the entry and exit of the bullet. It was between her shoulder blade and her collar bone. "No. No. no, no… God no…Are you with me Jack?"

_Please wake up, you can't die now. Please you can't die now._

"ARE YOU WITH ME?" he shouted rousing her to consciousness. He removed his goggles and looked into her eyes.

"I was always with you." she choked losing consciousness quickly.

He gasped uncontrollably when he heard her voice. "Kill that son of a bitch." She said lifting her good arm up and touched his cheek before she passed out.

"My pleasure baby." He said laying her down. He kissed her cheek and wiped his hands on his pants, still clutching the shiv. "I'm gonna kill you motherfucker." He informed the giant without any trace of the human left.

"Do you think she's bleeding internally? She looks pretty pale." He taunted. "Do you think that Cavanaugh blew her lung apart? Heavy bleeding is common. Bet it hurts! I'm gonna gut you." the Swede said laughing as he pulled out two long slender knives. "I know your fighting style. Pathetic."

He wiped his hands and lunged at Riddick, who moved away from Jack. The Swede moved closer and kicked her unconscious body enraging Riddick further.

"**Son of a BITCH**!" snarled Riddick as he came up and knocked him into a wall.

A groan came out of her as he shot a glance to Kalifa who ran and picked her up and laid her down by Toombs and Roper, "If you wish to live pig, don't you dare move."

Riddick lunged at him growling, nothing but the animal left. There was no human left in his eyes, no trace of the man Kalifa came to know as brother.

What kept running through Riddick's mind was that Jack was dead, or as good as dead and he had nothing left to live for. He stood there a moment and realized that he didn't _want_ to feel human any longer. And he welcomed the coldness that came with that realization.

She was gone. He didn't have to feel any longer…The relief was so palpable he embraced it gladly rather than feeling the torment of her loss.

Roper was so terrified by Riddick's transformation that he didn't dare move.

Kalifa took out his portable Sasha and ran it over Jack. "Kalifa, put pressure on the wound. We have entry and exit and a collapsed lung. We need to get her to the med lab ASAP."

"You!" He growled to Roper, "Press here and don't you dare move, or I will kill you myself."

"Father, we have a problem. Jack's been shot, prep the med lab. Riddick's got the Swede. Toombs is unconscious and we need to get her to the ship ASAP." He said as the mainframe Sasha let the crew know that Jack was coming hot and heavy.

A growl of absolute fury came when Riddick clashed against Johannson's brute strength. He watched the big blonde drop to the dusty ground and throw gravel dust in his eyes.

Riddick cursed loudly and staggered trying to right himself and momentarily didn't see the Swede's oncoming punch. It lifted Riddick off the ground and slammed him against the wall. "That's gotta hurt now doesn't it fish?"

Riddick's head came up and he spat blood on the ground. He closed his useless eyes and concentrated on the sounds. "Fuck you merc!"

_What do you hear Riddick? _

_Heartbeats. Heavy breathing. Boots scuffing the dirt…_

The Swede was loud and cocky and he used that to his advantage. In a sweeping arc, he brought up his arm and took Johannson in the gut blinking madly to get the dust out. He felt bones crack with such force he heard the giant grunt in excruciating pain.

_What do you feel? _

_Movement, slower, and labored._

The Swede recovered quickly and as Riddick's eyesight returnedJohannson sliced Riddick up his back from the top of his pants to his mid back. A growl of agony escaped him as he looked at the big man and knew how this was gonna end and he looked forward to the pain he would inflict.

"Die you mother fucker." He growled grabbing him at the waist and slamming him against the wall. With a lightning quick move, he took a shiv from out of his boot and shoved it just under the fourth lumbar vertebrae and snapped it off.

The big man fell, screeching in obvious distress while Roper and Kalifa watched as Riddick climbed on his chest and roared torturously, "You killed her, you killed her…. You killed Jack! NOOOO! AGGGGGGGHHH AGHGGGGGH!" was his roar of agony as his hands pounded Johannson's chest again and again stabbing up and down so many times that in the end he was saturated with the merc's blood and matter.

"My brother, he is dead. We need to save Jack. RIDDICK." He shouted as Riddick rounded on him the demon of rage still in his eyes. "She's still alive!"

_Jack! Alive, oh GOD! Breathe motherfucker, slow your ass down, look at her, not at the blood. _He told himself over and over desperately trying to grab a hold of the rational.

After a few moments he sat up still astride the dead man and cocked his head as he looked up at Kalifa. "Why is that merc still alive?" he snarled pointing his bloody shiv at him.

"He's keeping Jack _alive_." He told Riddick as he looked and Roper had Jack in his lap and was keeping pressure on the wound.

"Rid…" a small frail voice croaked and he ran to her.

"Jack. Don't leave me baby. Stay with me…" he said running to her. "No, please don't do this. Stay please. Don't I can't do this without you… Remember the beach, the house, the garden, stay please. PLEASE!" he cried holding her in his arms. "Come on baby, stay with me… I love you so much."

"Don't kill him. He didn't…he…walked…away… Trust…me…" she said losing consciousness again. "Promise me…"

"You got yourself a reprieve but if she dies, so do you." he said pointing the bloody knife in his face. "Like him."

Roper was shaking so bad he couldn't breathe. He kept praying. _God don't die, please God let her live…_

"Get Toombs, and you," he said pointing to Roper, "help me with her or I'll gut you like a fucken fish. And I'll enjoy it much better than killing that piece of shit."

Roper got a look at Johannson and nearly wet himself. They lifted her and she groaned. Blood was dripping and Riddick pulled her against him. Roper pressed against the wound with both hands one on her collarbone, the other on her back.

He continued his mantra aloud, "God don't die, please God let her live…"

"You keep praying you piece of shit. You keep at it." Riddick said as Kalifa lifted an unconscious Toombs over his shoulder.

It took them fifteen minutes to reach the spaceport and it was dead quiet when they reached the restricted section. "Salim!" Riddick shouted and Jack flinched.

Dr. Janis and Anne came running with a stretcher and he laid her down on it. "Anne where's Layne?" he shouted in pain and very distraught.

Anne was shocked and frightened by his tone and all the blood. "Sleeping. God you're wounded."

"GET JACK!" He growled at her.

"Back off Riddick, Dr. Janis has her and when she starts to operate I will help her. Don't you dare yell at me now! Get yourself into that chair." She demanded looking at him so furious that she was shouted at.

He was in shock and she knew that even if he didn't. He found himself sitting down on a stool and staring at Jack on the table being worked on by Janis and Salim.

Kalifa had put Roper and Toombs into one of the crew quarters and locked the door running back to help where he could.

"I need a pressure dressing and an IV line run stat Anne, do that while I assess Riddick. Hello Riddick, my name is Janis, we haven't met."

Kalifa came in and plugged portable Sasha into the mainframe and Sasha's vid screen roared with life. "Collapsed lung, gunshot wound entry and exit. Shattered clavicle and we need to reinflate the lung as soon as possible… Pulse steady and blood pressure dropping."

"Line's in." Anne shouted grabbing a tray. "Next?"

"Run two units of plasma." Dr. Janis shouted as she cut away whatever fabric was still in the way. "That's a deep laceration Riddick, you're gonna need about 50 stitches. Salim, get a pressure bandage and hold it against his back until I get Jack stabilized."

Janis went back to Jack and put a new pair of sterile gloves on. "Prep for intubation."

Riddick watched in horror as they intubated Jack and Janis got the scalpel and chest tube. "Jack's lung is collapsed, we're going to reinflate it."

She looked at Riddick's pained face and got to work. "Sasha give me Jack's vitals. Where the hell is Kalifa?"

He ran back in and stood there waiting for orders. "Wash your hands and put these gloves on. Give me what I ask for and do it quickly. Anne, push epi 100 mgs."

Kalifa washed and stood next to her and watched as she repaired the damage caused by Cavanaugh's pistol. Cavanaugh used bullets and not a pulse weapon which made it easier but difficult at the same time. Janis shouted orders to Anne and Kalifa as they worked non-stop.

Riddick looked grave as they operated. He stared openly weeping and prayed. He begged God not to take her. He never had any use for God but in those moments he knew that one thing was true, he was nothing without her.

_Please, not Jack, I can't do this without her, not my baby, please…_

He lost consciousness due to blood loss as they hit the two hour mark. When he woke he was on a bed laying on his stomach. There was an IV attached to his arm and he saw a red tube. "What the fuck happened?" he asked trying to move. He groaned as every part of his entire torso screamed in pain.

"You passed out, we moved you to this bed and spent two hours stitching you up. That's what happened my son." Salim said holding his hand.

"Jack?" he asked pained and worried. Salim looked over to the bed next to him. Jack was unconscious and on a breathing tube. "Is she?"

"She lives. The gun missed her heart but nicked her lung. It shattered her collarbone. Jack's lung has been reinflated and a drain put in. Raphaella had to put pins and screws to repair it. She will recover. That is the worst of it. You, my son, have 72 stitches up your back.A liter of plasma and three broken ribs."

"Let me up." He said wincing.

"No. Not until the doctor sees you." he said firmly.

"Where's the baby?" he asked as the pain throbbed along his back.

"Sleeping. Anne has just fed him. You are lucky. I will get the doctor."

Dr. Janis walked over and looked at his chart. "Hey," she said rubbing his face like Jack would. "she's going to live. I've sedated her until she stabilizes more. She's going to be fine. It'll just take time. Do you want to get up?"

He nodded and she removed the IV and gave him a shot to help with the pain. "How bad was it?"

"I've seen worse. But she's strong. Sasha updated me on your recuperative powers. She'll heal faster because she's like you. You need to be careful. You lost a liter of blood. Now, I'll remove the breathing tube in a few hours and get her breathing on her own. Let her rest. I took almost four hours to repair the damage. It was on the same shoulder she got stabbed on. Her shoulder's okay but the collarbone will take a while to heal. But she's gonna recover, you keep thinking that."

Kalifa came in and helped him off the bed. "Let us get you out of these bloody clothes. Then we need to pay a visit to Toombs and Roper." He said giving him his arm.

Jack would live that's all that mattered. "Thanks Doc." He said and silently he thanked God.

* * *

Kalifa waited patiently until he came out of the bathroom. He washed the blood off him and was careful not to get his bandage wet. He stood there in a towel dripping.

"Feel more human my brother?" Kalifa asked as Riddick tried to stand straight. He walked over to the dresser and pulled out clean underwear and a pair of pants and a clean shirt.

"I will. Once Jack wakes up. I can't FUCK." he winced sitting on the edge of the bed. Kalifa walked to his wardrobe and pulled out a button down shirt, a black one; the first one he got his hands on and helped Riddick put it on. He rewrapped his ribs and helped him put his boots on. "Thanks."

"It's over. Now, let me help you, and then let us go and pay a visit on Toombs."

* * *

"Rise and shine merc." Riddick said throwing a pail of water on him.

Toombs woke with a start and squinted. "Riddick?" he said nervously.

The first thing he noticed was that he was sitting in the middle of the med lab handcuffed to a chair. On one seat sat Anne, then behind her stood Kalifa, next to him was Jack unconscious, the sounds of the ventilator burring and pushing air into her lungs. On the other side sat Riddick and Salim.

When his eyes focused he saw seething hatred and malice directed at him and he didn't like being restrained one bit.

"You just don't fucken learn do you?" Riddick spat rubbing his face.

He tried to be smug and cocky but Riddick came up fast and deadly with a shiv under his chin. "Listen up motherfucker cause I'm only gonna say this once."

Toombs gulped. "This is the LAST time you'll see my face. I catch you anywhere near me or mine and I will take my time and introduce you to all of your major organs, starting with this one." He said pointing the edge of the shiv at one of his eyes. "YOU HEAR ME?"

"I, uh, hear, you," he said and Riddick noticed an odd smell. He looked down and started to laugh and evil malevolent laugh that scaredToombs half to death.

Toombs had pissed himself.

"Fucken pussy. You tell those motherfuckers on Hellion Prime we're dead. Cause if you don't and I even smell mercs sniffing around us, I'll make it my personal mission in life to make my earlier threat a reality. Plus, I have a Doc to help me keep you alive so I can do it all over again. Ain't that right Doc?"

"Hello Harold." Dr. Janis said coming into the room from the hallway.

Toombs' sense of betrayal was so acute that his whimper of emotional pain was so loud Riddick found it ironic. "But… But… I trusted you."

"Yeah, I'm not sorry about that. You were right. Trust is for those who deserve it. It's men like you that make men like Farad more powerful. You see, Jack saved my daughter Fatima, and many others like her. I wasn't going to allow you to harm her or their son. My debt to her has been repaid." She said walking to stand behind Riddick putting a hand protectively on his shoulder.

He smiled a broad shit eating grin aimed at Toombs.

"But you gave a shit! I knew you did…" he said devastated. The horror of her betrayal was so acute that his heart shattered so completely that he almost succumbed to tears.

"I don't feel anything but revulsion for you. Nothing except disgust."

"Remember Toombs, I will warn you just this once. If I even smell your ugly ass near my family, your ass is mine." He said cocking his head and smiling an grin so sadistic that Toombs would have pissed himself again if he didn't already empty his bladder.

"Nighty night." Riddick said waving as Anne shot him in the chest with another dart.

Toombs' head lolled forward and Salim and Kalifa smiled feeling vindication. "Get him back on the ship and dope him for the trip back to Hellion Prime."

"Yes my brother. Father, let us go and take care of this," Kalifa said smug. "piece of filth."


	71. Redemption

Riddick walked out of the med suite after he kissed his wife on her forehead and told her he loved her so much. He walked down the hall to the room the held Roper in and opened the door.

"Two things." He said sitting in the chair and looking exhausted. "Thank you for shooting that merc and helping me with Jack. If you want me to let you live you'll listen up."

Roper who had been alone since they're arrival sat on the bed with his hands in his lap. "Sure."

"Jack made me promise not to kill you. When I promise something, and I only do it to her, I keep my word." He said looking at him. "Why did you sign with Toombs?"

Riddick was curious. Janis had told him that this was the kid's first job. He wanted to know why. "I needed the money. No one lets you pilot when you got a record."

"What's your sheet for?" he asked sitting carefully back in the chair, his silver eyes gleaming.

"Theft, hacking, shit like that. No one will give you a job when you're a convict. Spent two years in a slam and never wanted to go back. Did my time and I wanted to make some money and live my fucken life, are you happy now?"

He laughed. "Janis likes you, and I'm inclined to believe her. You're just a kid."

"I'm not much younger than you Riddick." He said sarcastically.

"Shut it kid while I'm in a good mood. My wife is gonna pull through and you helped make that happen, so shut the fuck up when I'm talking."

He sat quietly remembering the man only a few hours before had been a homicidal rage. "Now, she's gonna need some help. And you're gonna do it and earn your keep."

"How, I can't do shit, all my stuff is on Toombs' ship?" He said looking at the floor.

"Mercs will fuck you over every time if it makes them money. Learn that while you're young. I believe in second chances kid and that's saying something. You help me, and I'll help you. Fuck me one time, and I'll slit your throat while you sleep. You understand?"

"Absolutely." He said shaking.

"Now, go get your gear, you'll go with Kalifa and be quick, I need you to help remote pilot Toombs and set the auto pilot. We're sending his ass back to Farad with a bow. Go, before I change my mind."

* * *

Anne brought Layne to see Riddick after he had slept some. Roper had returned with all his gear and settled into the room they gave him and was grateful to still have a pulse. No one trusted him and he didn't mind their standoffish behavior.

He was just happy to be alive.

When Riddick walked into the mess carrying Layne on his shoulder, Roper looked at him with wonder.

How could such a brutal man look so tender at the same time? He shrugged it off and sat at one of the tables waiting for him to give him his orders. Kalifa walked in with Jack's new laptop and put it in front of him.

"Jack set up her machine to hack inside and get to you via remote. Set the auto pilot and get him on course to Hellion Prime. Make it so it wakes him up when he's entering the atmosphere. Then I want you see Dr. Janis, she's got some things she needs done. Anyone asks you to do something you do it. That is the deal. Understand me?"

"Yes Captain." He told him and started tapping the keys.

* * *

"Done." He said an hour later. "Toombs should arrive in 6 weeks. What's gonna happen to him when he gets there?"

"We set him up. Don't worry about that now. Just see the Doc, take care of that knot on your head and get something to eat and rest." He said cooing Layne with his fingers. "Thank God that Jack lives and she made me promise, cause part of me really wants you dead. Remember that."

Roper closed the laptop and obeyed looking towards the med suite so damn relieved he couldn't breathe right.

Once inside the med lab, he went to Janis and hugged her weeping like a small child. He explained what he saw, how horrifying it was to watch, how he had been so wrong in coming andthat he could have died. But Janis, sighed and hugged him harder saying, "I told Jack you had a change of heart, and I knew when you decided to leave you would. That saved you, she heard you and knew that you weren't like the others. Now prove your worth. Riddick is a good man, he'll need you. Get something to eat, and rest."

He walked over to Jack, laying still and bruised. A large bandage covered her and he could still see the finger tip bruises on her throat. "If I have to devote my life to your family, I will because I owe you. Your last words were pleading for my life. I promise to make good on that."

He left without another word and went to his room. He showered, sat on his bed and fell asleep a deep sleep that was a long time coming.

Kalifa had learned to pilot in the weeks he spent training with Riddick and put them on course to Talos 4.. Riddick was never more happy than to be in the blackness of space.

He looked down from the bridge and thought, it's finally over, they would make the life they dreamed of and no one and nothing would get in their way.


	72. Epilogue

It took six full months for Jack to recover. She sat on a lounge chair overlooking the sea and breathed in the salt air like it was manna from heaven. Layne sat playing in a playpen and she leaned up moving slowly because she still felt a slight twinge every now and then.

"You should take it easy Jack, you're delicate." a deep sexy voice said from the doorway.

"I know, help me up. I want to see the beach." She said smiling. She loved the sea air and her garden was growing so full of flowers and herbs now. She was so proud of it.

He helped her up and felt the wind against his skin. "I love you Jack." He kissed her tenderly and smiled.

"I love you too Riddick." She told him as his arms carefully held her against him. "More than anything."

"Janis tells me that her daughter and her son in law should be here any day now." she told him as they walked down to the beach. "I love the sand, especially when it is cool and the water is so warm."

She wore a long colored skirt and a white top that flowed down passed her hips. "How are you feeling today?" he asked as they sat down.

"Huge." She smirked laughing as the water nipped at her toes. "Two and a half more months. I can't wait. They're kicking my ass already."

He leaned down, his white button down shirt grazing her skin and leaned to put his face against the large round bulge against the fabric. "Hey guys, it's Dad, be nice to your mother. She's getting tired and that means keep it down in there."

"Can't believe you call them guys when you know they're girls." She quipped laughing.

He laughed with her. She was still so breathtaking. He looked back at their house, a nice sized fortress with state of the art security, Aunt Anne, Uncle Kalifa, Salim and Dr. Janis and three maids and Roper, who turned out to be the best damn security tech he had ever seen.

Their little family was growing and strong, and Jack loved Riddick and he was so damn pleased he could barely stand it.

"Daddy's little girls are gonna be hellions you know." She said laughing. She brushed the sand off his denims and thought she'd never looked more beautiful.

"Yeah but just think, how many boyfriends will fuck with them when their Dad is Richard B. Riddick, convicted murder and escaped felon?"

"Not many, and those who try just might regret it…" she smirked.

Fins.

Now you all are probably wonder what happened to good ole Toombs…

Six weeks to the day his ship left Talos Prime, Toombs woke to the alarms indicating that the air force that protected New Mecca wanted to know what the hell he was doing still asleep and trying to enter their atmosphere.

"You," in the ship, "follow us to landing helipad Delta 3.4.2." the jet jockey ordered.

Toombs landed and was met by armed security and had no earthly idea how long he'd been doped but knew the shit was about to hit the fan.

Waiting for him after he got done with security was half a dozen armed guards from the New Mecca Pilgrim Authority.

"There must be a mistake…" he pleaded realizing he was in deep trouble.

When he reached Mahmood Farad he was terrified they'd skin his ass alive.

"Where's the cargo Mr. Toombs?" He said in perfect English. "You sent word you had both Riddick and the girl. You even showed us pictures and DNA. We paid you half the bounty as you requested now where is my cargo?"

"I don't have em. I was set up. They fucked me over."

"I don't believe you." he said and shouted something in Arabic. "Do you know what we do to thieves and liars?"

A large scimitar held by a larger man than the Swede, walked over and had them pull his hand out. "We cut off a hand. Where is my money Mr. Toombs?"

Toombs pissed himself again and screamed as they began to torture him.

"Fucken DEAD!" he screamed as one hand dropped into a basket. "They're fucken DEAD DON'T KILL ME! LEAVE ME MY HAND!!!"

Then he proceeded to tell them how Riddick died trying to get away and how Jack got shot, which wasn't a lie."

"Unfortunate for you." said the old man and Toombs' last words were ironic.

"Fucking Riddick."

* * *

**Thank you all so much for coming along for the ride. I'm gonna take a break to write something for $ $ $ anyone who wants to give me feedback can by just emailing me.**

**There will be a sequel. Just make a date with yourself…. I'm gonna definitely do one. SOON**

**This is not the end. It's only the beginning......................**

**Love and kisses,**

**Jackie**

**ps. I am so proud of Riddick, he got the girl, or girls I might add, a family and his Jack….**

**Don't we all wish we could be her….**


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